^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 

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I ChapJ.l^S. % 

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I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. l\ 



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ADEIFT IN AMERICA, 



OB 



WORK AND ADVENTURE IN 



THE STATES. 



By CECIL ROBERTS. 



WITH AN APPENDIX BY 



MORLEY ROBERTS. 



LONDON: 
LAWRENCE AND BULLEN, 

169, NEW BOND STREET, W. 
1891. 



T 




CONTENTS. 



PilfTO 

CriArxEii I. — My New Departure - ... 5 

,, II. — Winter ox Maple River - - . . 31 

,, III. — South to Santa Fe - - - - 50 

,, IV. — Joint ahead and centre rack - . . 70 

,, V. — Off breaks !----- 81 

,, VI. — An up grade - - - - - 96 

„ VII. — From the land of sno^^' - - - - 113 

,, VIII. — Hitting the road ... - - 123 

„ IX.— On the T. p. 143 

,, X. — Alkali water and " 90 days " - - - 15G 

,, XI. — On the trail with horses - - - 17G 

„ XII. — Beef slough and the Mit-sissirn - - - 194 

,, XIII, — Washington AND " Shanghai" - - 222 

,, XIV.- -The net result ----- 233 

APPENDIX, BY Mobley Egberts: 

Texas animals ...... 239 

Sheep and sheep-herding . . - - 242 

Tramps 247 

Railroad wars ... - ■• 251 

American shipmasters ... - - 254 



p. 1640. A 2 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER I. 

My New Departure. 

I WAS not yet sixteen when I went to sea as an 
apprentice in the ship SouJcar, 1,304 tons, belonging 
to Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Company. During 
my four years' apprenticeship I was three times 
at Port Lyttelton, Christchurch, New Zealand, 
once in Melbourne, thence with coal to Anja 
Point, Java, which was afterwards destroyed by 
the great Krakatoa volcanic explosion. We received 
orders there for Rangoon, and at that port loaded 
rice for Europe. Leaving England again I went to 
Port Lyttelton once more, thence to Geelong, and 
being then out of my time I served as A.B. on 
the passage home. 

My next voyage was in the barque Bebington, 
belonging to the same firm, as second mate. 
We went to Melbourne, thence to Timaru for 
orders, which sent us to Valparaiso, again for 



6 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

orders, wliicli were now finally for Aiitofogasta, to 
load saltpetre. Thence we sailed for Queenstown 
and Hamburg, where I left the Bthington. 

It was on returning home that my real 
adventures began, for though I saw enough hard 
weather and did a great deal of hard work in that 
five years, it was after all nothing more than 
comes in the course of learning his profession 
to every young seaman. And to tell the truth, 
I was pretty tired of the sea. It did not take 
me long as a youngster to learn to discount 
the romance of it, which lies chiefly either in 
ignorant imagination, or in the memory of some 
old salt who has forgotten the tough salt horse 
and weevilly biscuit to remember that ho was 
then young and strong and able to enjoy himself 
when he got a rare chance. And apart from all 
romance there did not seem to be very much in 
the business. It was not only monotonous but 
poorly paid. So that is the reason why I made up 
my mind to go to America and see what could be 
done there. And if I did not succeed in niakin<r 
money, at any rate I had a very varied time and 
learnt something of the inside of a country. 

When I landed in New York after a rather rough 
passage across the Atlantic I was in very good 
spirits, and thought I was going to do big things, 
though I had a very indistinct idea of how the big 
things were to be done. As a start, in company 
with a man called Mathews, who was on board the 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 7 

steamer in which I crossed the Atlantic, I went 
out to South Bend in the State of Indiana, where 
Mathews had a brother who owned a farm of three 
hundred acres. 

Mathews' brother was buikling a barn that 
spring, and he was kind enough to give me a job 
" tending mason," or, as we shouki call it in 
England, mixing mortar and carrying a hod. It 
certainly staggered me a bit at first, but as nobody 
there seemed to think that there was anything 
infra diy. about it, I very soon came to look on 
it in the same way, and, with the rest of the people 
about there, to consider myself just as good as the 
President, even if I was not quite so clever. This 
job lasted about a month, after Vvdiich Mathews 
engaged me as a farm hand for the rest of the 
summer at $15 a month, and I might have stayed 
there some time if I had been religious enough, or 
enough of a humbug to make people believe that I 
was, but being neither the one or the other, I soon 
got myself into bad odour and had to shift ; for 
some of my actions and some of my yarns rather 
startled the saints about that part of the country, 
and consequently I got the cold shoulder right and 
left — no one would speak to me, and I was shunned 
as if I had the plague. One of my offences was that 
when I had occasion to speak of anybody's lower 
limbs, I called them legs, whereas the sanctified 
prudes about there always called them ilinhs. They 
considered lea's indelicate I wa,s told, but if all was 



» ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

true that I heard I fancy that there were some of 
the most disgusting hypocrites abont that neigh- 
bourhood it lias ever been my misfortune to come 
in contact with. 

I never did anything on purpose to iiTitate these 
people, but nothing I could do was right, and I was 
continually running against some snag in the shape 
of an unwritten law which made things uncom- 
fortable for me. On one occasion I had accepted 
the invitation of two men (who were considered by 
the religious part of the community to be two old 
reprobates) to drive out to a place called Lakeville 
one Sunday and go fishing. Now fishing of itself 
was not considered to bo a very objectionable 
practice, but the man who indulged in the sport on 
Sunday was considered as lost to all sense of moral 
responsibility, and to be, at least until such time as 
he had repented in sackcloth and ashes, on the 
high road to destruction. The old fellows, both of 
whom were what I should call very decent square- 
dealiug men, were quite diff'erent from each other 
both in appearance and disposition, one being fat 
and very fond of sitting down in a comfortable 
place under a shady tree where he would put his 
line in the water and sit for hours smoking and 
blinking, quite content if he never got a bite, just 
so long as nothing happened to make him exert 
himself, while the other was a thin, wiry, energetic 
kind of man who was everywhere and at everything, 
continually on the move, and would not stay more 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 9 

than a few minutes in one place unless lie was 
catcliing fish or getting bites. 

We went from Maple Grove to Lakeville in a 
conveyance that is called in the States a buck-board. 
On the way there a big rattlesnake came out of the 
fence at one side of the road and wriggling across 
our path got in amongst a pile of stones at the 
other side. Now in any country where snakes are 
plentiful most people are very anxious to kill as 
many of them as they can, not with any idea of 
lessening their number but from a feeling of 
hostility towards the whole race. 

On seeing this particular snake we at once pulled 
up and the thin man, whose name was O'Brien, at 
once got down, and breaking a stick from some 
bushes that grew by the roadside, proceeded to 
try and dislodge him from his hiding-place in the 
pile of stones. However, the snake had either gone 
right through and out the other side, or at least 
would not come out again if he was still in 
there. This caused some delay, at which the other 
man, who had kept his seat in the buck-board, began 
to get fidgety, and I saw that he made two or three 
starts to say something but stopped himself. At 
length, losing patience, he said : " Now look here, 
O'Brien, what is it going to be, air we going a 
fishing, or air we going a snaking, because I want 
to know." 

As we could not dislodge the snake we gave it 
up as a bad job and proceeded on our way. We had 



1^ ADKIFT IX AMERICA. 

a very pleasant day, for wliicli I got black looks 
for a week after. One of tlie men who took it 
upon himself to reprove me for what he called 
Sabbath-breaking, had said in my hearing, Avhen 
told that his pigs were in a neighbour's clover field, 
" Oh, yes, I know they are, but I guess they are 
doing pretty well, and I believe I will let them 
stay there." 

There is a kind of amusement in the backwoods 
known as a platform dance, and it was attending 
one of these affairs which finally put the '* kibosh " 
on me as a possible member of Indiana backwoods 
society. A piece of land is cleared for this kind of 
dance out in the woods, and a raised dancing floor 
of boards is erected there. There is no roof over 
it, and, if by bad luck, it happens to rain, the 
festivities come suddenly to an end. The illumina- 
tions consist of candles in transparent Chinese 
lanterns, and the scene is often enough very pretty 
with a background of dark forest and the sky 
overhead. Some of the boys belonging to a 
neighbouring farm asked me to go to one, and as I 
thought it would be a change, I went. The 
company were mostly young people, though there 
was a sprinkling of older folks, and the dancing 
was of a very rough kind, mostly square dances for 
whicb the figures were called out by a man specially 
told off' for the purpose. But no one in particular 
was " boss " of the entertainment, which was 
evidently run on the democratic principle of equal 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 1 I 

rights for every one. Every man brought a girl 
and many of them whiskey as well. Things went 
on very nicely until late at night, when most of the 
whiskey had been consumed, and one man Avanted 
to dance Avith someone else's partner. This 
resulted in a fight and the combatants rolled off 
the platform. Some of their friends could not see 
a row without joining in, and with an accompani- 
ment of yelling and screaming from the women, 
about half the crowd went to Avork fighting. 
Presently res^olvers AA^ere drawn and a few shots 
fired, fortunately without hurting anybody, and this 
time the roAA^ ended without a coroner's inquest. 
Such entertainments do not ahvays end so. The 
more sober ones of the party finally got the upper 
hand, and the drunken men Avere deprived of their 
Aveapous. We then thought it about time to go 
home. And it did not improve my character to 
have gone there. 

One morning Mathews, Avho was a very good 
sort of a fellow — though as he had married into the 
respectable part of the community, he had to ho 
like them — told me that he would pay me Avhat he 
OAved me, and that it would be best for me to clear 
out of that part of the country, as they had all 
come to the conclusion that I was not a fit person 
to associate Avith. I had been obserA'ed to chew 
tobacco, and it was also said that I had been seen 
coming out of a saloon one day that I was in town, 
both of Avhich ofiences Avere, as I now found out, 



12 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

quite enough to stamp mc as a bad man in that 
ultra-sanctified communitj^, even if I had not gone 
fishinor or dancing. 

So pocketing Mathews' dollars and shaking the 
dust of Maple Grove from my feet, T proceeded on 
ehginks's marc to South Bend, whither Mathews 
promised to send my baggage the next day. 

It was in the month of August, and in Indiana 
the harvest was over or nearly so, Avith the 
exception of the corn, which is not picked till 
the first frost, so there was not much doing in the 
country and I did not care to stay in town, although 
I could have got work if I had wished for it. In 
fact I did get it in the Studcbaker waggon works, 
but two days of such labour in a close room was 
enough for me, so I left my check on the board the 
second night and gave up working in a factory. 

Where to go next was the question, and it was 
settled for me by Mathews' brother-in-law advising 
me to go to Dakota Territory, a place he described 
in very glowing colours. I have since thought that 
he was anxious to get me as far away as possible so 
that I should not come back in a hurry. However 
that may have been, the advice to go West was 
very acceptable to me, as it happened to fall in with 
my own wishes and ideas. So packing my baggage 
and paying my board bill, I went down to the 
depot (railway station) and took a ticket for Fargo, 
which was then the largest city in Dakota. It was 
dark soon after we left South Bend, and some time 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 13 

about midnight I was landed at Chicago, in the 
Chicago and North- Western Railway depot, to find 
that the train that I ought to have caught there had 
left, so I had to wait till twelve o'clock next day. 
My baggage being checked through to Fargo, I 
had no bother about that at the railway depot. 

I was very much struck with the comfort and 
convenience of the waiting rooms, which were 
supplied with beautiful rocking-chairs that made a 
tired man feel rested to look at. As money was not 
very plentiful with me at that time, I took posties- 
sion of one of these, and slept there for the rest 
of the night, by that means saving hotel expenses. 

In the morning I took a look round the city ; of 
course I did not see much of the place, but what I 
did see gave me the impression that it was not a 
very beautiful city, though no doubt a very busy 
and prosperous one. It was here that I first saw 
cable cars in operation. The cables, of course, 
being out of sight, I was very much puzzled to 
make out what it was that was propelling the cars ; 
at first I thought they were electric-motor cars, 
but I did not like to expose my ignorance to the 
public by asking any questions, so it was some time 
before 1 found out. 

Down by the lake shore, the wharfs, at which 
were lying large numbers of schooners and also a 
good many large steamships, some of them apparently 
of as m.uch as two and three thousand tons register, 
present the appearance of a seaport. This part of 



11 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

the city also has the same appearance as a corre- 
sponding* part of any large seaport would have. 
The suits of oilskins and bundles of slop clothes, 
together with the strings of tin pots and plates 
that are seen hanging outside of dingy shops, which 
are presided over by greasy and persuasive-tongued 
Jews, give the place a regular briny look, and if I 
had not known that it was a thousand miles away 
from it, I might have fancied Lake Michigan a part 
of the real ocean. 

However, I had not much time to gaze at any- 
thing, but had to hurry ])ack to the depot to catch 
my train. The scenery for the next part of my 
journey, viz., that part of it that lay through 
Illinois and "Wisconsin, was not very striking, it 
being through dark forests of pine, hemlock, and 
spruce, in which the view was bounded by the line 
of trees on either side of the railway track ; or, 
over open rolling prairies that were either under 
cultivation or covered with flocks and herds, and 
thickly dotted with homesteads, all of which looked 
very much the same. Sometimes, when the carriage 
was clear enough to do so, I lay down and slept. 
As we got up into Minnesota the country was more 
broken, and there were some very pretty lake 
scenes, this State being particularly remarkable for 
its lakes, though my route at this time did not take 
me through what may be called the lake district, 
which is in the north-eastern part of the State, 
where Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi, is 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 15 

situated. The nearest I ever was to this lake was 
when I was at Fargo, which is about 80 miles nearly 
west from it. It was early on Sunday morning 
when 1 arrived at St, Paul and found that I could 
not get a train on to Fargo till that night. As 1 
was hungry and dusty and tired, I went on to an 
hotel and had a wash, some breakfast, and went to 
bed. But, somehow or other, I could not sleep, 
and was just thinking of getting up when I was 
startled by cries of fire. Jumping out of bed, I 
hastily donned some indispensable articles of 
clothing, and tucking the rest under my arm, and 
taking my boots in my hand, I bolted out of my 
room and ran downstairs. I had not gone far when 
I was met by a surging crowd of men, who were 
rushing to their rooms to rescue such property as 
they had left there, and they jostled me about and 
trod on my bare feet till I was glad to run into a 
room that I saw open and put my boots on. Thus 
equipped I managed to fight my way out into the 
street, where several fire engines were on hand 
ready for action. No one could see any fire or 
smoke, and it soon transpired that it was to some 
extent a false alarm. A gasoline cooking stove had 
exploded, but beyond scorching some of the cooks 
and spoiling a large quantity of food, no particular 
harm had been done. So after swearing for awhile 
over my sore toes, I went up to my room again 
and, dressing myself, I went out to see the city, for 
after that sleep was impossible. 



lo 



ADRIFT IN AMKIIICA. 



The view of the Mississippi from the bluffs on 
which the upper part of the town stands is very 
fine ; in fact, I tliink it is as fine a view as can be 
got on any part of the upper river. I do not 
remember anything else about the place that 
particularly impressed me, so I suppose there was 
not anything very striking to be seen, as I should 
have been sure to have noticed it if there liad 
been. 

As it was getting on towards evening, a large 
steamboat, a regular Mississippi steamboat, came 
to the landing, and as it was the largest boat that 
ran on the upper river, which is that part of it 
which is to the north of St. Louis, where it is 
joined by the Missouri, there was a large crowd 
down there to see it come in. 

This was the first time that I ever saw a real 
Mississippi river boat, and it was a sight worth 
seeing ; they are really very fine boats, splendidly 
fitted up, and very comfortable. 

As I was standing looking at the crowd of nigger 
roustabouts discharging the cargo, a rather well- 
dressed and gentlemanly young fellow came up to 
me, and, saying " Good evening ! " asked me if I 
had seen a boat like that before. I told him that it 
was the first time that I had ever seen either that 
river or a boat of that class. After some more 
conversation, he, according to the most approved 
transatlantic style, began to question me as to 
where T came from, where I was going to, and Avho 



ADRIFT IN AIMERICA. 17 

I was, and various otlier things that seemed to have 
a great interest for him. He then asked mo if I 
had any job to go to at Fargo, and when I told 
him no, I was just going up there on " spec," he 
asked mo if I could drive horses, and I replied that 
I could. 

" Look hero, old man," said he, " I have got a 
job that will just suit you. I have a Inrge general 
store in Fargo, and I want a man to drive a 
delivery wagg'on, and I think you would just suit 
me. There will not be much work to do, and I 
pay $40 a month and board. If you like to havo 
the job, you can." 

I thanked him for his offer, and accepted it at 
once. Now, although I was fresh in that country, 
I had quite enough experience of the ways of the 
world to be suspicious of a man's motives when he 
began to get too kind. So, as we walked up the 
street towards the ''Planters' Hotel," where he said 
he was staying, I was waiting for him to come out 
with what he wanted. But he said nothing till we 
got up toithe hotel, when he went into the office, 
and spoke a few words to the clerk. Then coming- 
out to me, he said : " I have a large sum of money 
in the safe, but the proprietor is out, and has got 
the key with him. I have to pay the freight on 
some goods 1 am shipping to Fargo, and am short 
of $50; just lend it me, will you, and I can give it 
you back in the morning ? " This was just the 
kind of request I had been expecting all along. So 

p. 1G40. ]{ 



18 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

I replied tliat I had no doubt of liis honesty, but 
that I did not make a practice of lending money to 
perfect strangers. Whereon he said, " Oh ! just as 
you please. I have no doubt T can get it from 
someone else." However, when he saw I was not 
quite such a hay-seed as he had taken me for, he 
sheered off, and I saw him no more. 

It was now time to go down to the depot, where 
I accordingly went, and found the train that was 
to take me on to Fargo was nearly ready to " pull 
out," as the phrase goes in America ; so getting my 
valise from the office, I jumped aboard, and made 
myself as comfortable as I could for the night. 
This part of my journey was done on the St. Paul, 
Minneapolis, and Manitoba line, but what the 
country was like I could not say, as it was dark up 
to a few miles before we arrived at Fargo, We 
stopped for breakfast at a place called Moorhead. 
The line here crosses the Red River of the North. 
It is this river that gives the name to that district 
known as the Red River Yalley, although I never 
saw anything resembling a valley in this perfectly 
flat country. 

A more uninteresting and thoroughly ugly town 
I never saw than Fargo as it appeared when I first 
saw it. It was, bke most other western cities, of 
mushroom growth. There were one or two large 
wooden structures which they called hotels, and a 
large number of second and third-rate boarding- 
houses, also called hotels. At one of these, the 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 1^ 

*' Park House," I put np, for T liad no great 
amount of money, and wished to save it as miicli 
as I could till I could get something to do. I soon 
found that there was plenty of work to be got of a 
rough kind at fairly good wages ; in fact, the supply 
of labour for the time being was not up to the 
demand, and so, of course, the labouring men were 
pretty independent. Everybody that had land 
there was anxious to get his thrashing done, and 
would give almost any wages to get men to go to 
work. It was not long before I was asked to go 
out and make one of a thrashing crew, but I said I 
had never done any of that kind of work, and did 
not know if I could manage it. 

" Never mind," said the man, " you will make 
one, and we will find you something you can do. 
All I want is a man who will try to do what he is 
told." So as he was so anxious to get me, I agreed 
to go with him. It was to be $2 50c. a day, and 
board and constant work till the snow flew, if I 
liked to stay. The man who engaged me was in 
town expressly to get men, as some of his crew had 
left, and, as he termed it, " stuck him up," so he 
could not do a " darned thing " till he got some 
more to go out. He wanted four men, but could 
not get them, myself and one other being all he 
could find. 

It was now about 12 o'clock in the day, and he 
wanted to get out to the farm that night in order 
to make a start in the morning, So going up to 

J! 2 



20 ADRIFT IX AMEHICA. 

the house, 1 rolled a f^w things I wanted in a 
blanket, and giving the rest in charge of the boss 
of the house, I was ready for the road. When the 
waggon came along I jumped in, and we started off 
for the scene of our labours, which was about 
10 miles out of Fargo. Anything more dull, 
dreary, and desolate-looking I can scarcely imagine 
than the country through which we passed on this 
journey. The prairie was flat as a dish, and as far 
as the eye could reach in every direction there was 
nothing but stubble to be seen, blotched here and 
there with black patches where piles of straw had 
been burnt. We passed two or three frame-houses 
that sprang up out of the stubble, without a tree or 
shrub or even as much as a fence round them ; but 
instead of enlivening the landscape, they seemed 
only to make it look more dreary ; for, weather- 
cracked for the want of paint, with their staring 
curtainless windows, they looked like so many 
skulls stuck about on the prairie. 

The waggon was heavily loaded and our progress 
was slow, and as there was nothing to be seen of 
any interest, and the others of the party were 
engaged with their own thoughts, and kept silent, 
the whole thing had such a depressing effect on my 
spirits that I felt very miserable. 

HoAvever, after about five hours of slow crawling, 
we at last arrived in front of a large bare frame, 
house which was the counterpart of those I had 
already seen, and our journey was at an end. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 21 

The boss jumped down and began unhitcbing the 
horses, while some men that were about the place 
gave a hand to unload the waggon and carry the 
goods into the house. 

I was told that there would be nothing for me to 
do that night, but that supper would be ready in a 
minute or two. I looked round to see if there was 
anything to wash at, but could not see anything of 
the kind about, so I inquired of one of the other 
men if there was any place where I could wasb my 
face and hands. He looked at me and seemed 
rather surprised at my asking, and then drawled 
out, "Tou ain't dirty, I ain't washed this three 
days, I ain't got a towel of my own and they don't 
supply any here ; but if you want to wash, there is 
a broken camp oven there, and there is some water 
in that cask (pointing out a barrel that stood at the 
side of the house), but if you ain't got soap of your 
own you won't get any here," 

However, I had soap and a towel, so securing the 
broken camp oven and getting some water in it, 
I managed to wash. I had just finished when one 
of the men came out beating a tin plate and singing 
out " grub pile," whicb I was given to understand 
was the signal for supper. The whole crowd bolted 
into the house as if they had not had anything to 
eat for a week. The reason tor this hurry, I soon 
found out, was that there was not room to seat 
everybody at once, so that two or three had to wait 
till someone else had finished, and then take his 



22 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

place. The consequence of this arrangement was 
that those that got left in the first rush generally 
carae in for short commons, for if there was 
anything particularly nice on the table, that was 
gorged at once by the first crowds and no one else 
ever got a show at it. Not being used to the 
place, and consequently not up to the move, I got 
left, and had to make my supper on bread and 
molasses and weak tea. Not being very hungry I 
did not care much about that, but one of the other 
fellows who got left was in a great state of mind 
about it, growling and cursing all the while he 
stigmatised the more fortunate part of the gang as 
a " lot of durned hogs " who were not fit to bo 
amongst respectable people, by which I suppose he 
meant himself, although I soon found out ho 
was a most outrageous glutton besides being 
a regular uncultivated savage in every other 
respect. 

Supper being over, I made inquiries as to where 
we should sleep, and the man that had steered me 
up against the washing outfit, now informed me 
that it was not customary to provide any sleeping 
accommodation for a thrashing crcAV ; " so " said he, 
" you must sleep where you can when you are on 
this kind of a racket, but this place is not bad, for 
there is room for all that are here to sleep in the 
stable, where there is plenty of good hay. At some 
places you have to hunt a roost in the straw stack, 
and if there comes any rain you are in a bad fix if 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 23 

there are not any waggon tilts on the place." On 
receiving this information I at once went for the 
structure that did duty for stable and general 
outhousCj determined not to get left on the 
sleeping part of the job as I had been on the 
supper. 

The stable, or (as it is more generally called out 
West, or indeed in any part of the United States), 
the barn, had been constructed on the simple 
method of setting up a few posts to the height 
of eight or nine feet and putting some poles 
across for rafters and filling in the rest of the 
business by putting the straw carrier of the 
thrashing machine over it until the whole was 
thickly covered up with straw. This makes a 
fairly good temporary barn, and the method is 
much in favour in this part of the country. 

I selected what appeared to me to be about the 
best spot for a roost, and taking a pile of hay and 
my blanket, I made a fairly comfortable bed. As 
I was pretty tired I lay down and was soon asleep. 
I did not enjoy my repose long before I was 
awakened by some more of the boys coming in 
and making their beds alongside of me. One of 
them remarked, " I think Dan might put his 
blamed mules the other end of the barn, they 
kept me awake half of last night and I don't sleep 
light neither." I began to wonder what Dan's 
mules might have been doing, but I was not left 
long in doubt about that, as about ten minutes 



ii4 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

afterwards those deliglitful animals made tlieir 
appoaraucG with a rush, and took np their quarters 
in the next stall to where we were Ivinq-. It imme- 
diately became apparent what was the trouble with 
them. Although there were two divisions in the 
manger, they both insisted on eating out of one, 
fighting and squealing continually. They would 
make a pause for a few minutes and then start in 
again with a shower of vicious kicks and squeals, 
and as this continued for the greater part of the 
night, I did not get much sleep. 

It was barely daylight when we were awakened 
by the boss coming in and telling us that breakfast 
was ready, and we all accordingly turned out as we 
had turned in, namely, "all standing." Nobody 
seemed to care about washing but myself, but I 
made another application to the broken camp oven, 
and having given myself a bit of a smear, went in to 
breakfast. This meal was not much to brag about, 
strong, bitter, horribly tasting coffee, fried salt 
pork, and bread and a kind of composition they 
called butter, but heaven only knows what it 
really was. 

Breakfast finished, I repaired to the barn where 
such of the men as had teams to drive were hitchino- 
their horses up. Dan was there with his mules. 
They were a really fine pair of animals, but vicious 
in the extreme. No mules that I ever saw were 
very gentle animals, but these were about the most 
infernal brutes that I ever set eyes on. When I 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. -io 

arrived on the scene, Dan had succeeded in hitching 
np the near side one, but the off one stood with his 
head close np to the pole, being fast to the other 
mule by the neck yoke, with his hind quarters 
stuck out at an angle of ninety degrees from it, a 
position which he obstinately refused to alter, while 
he signified his disapproval of all attempts to make 
him move by savage squeals and whole showers of 
kicks discharged into space. After about 20 
minutes of work they managed to get him into 
position by dint of shoving him with a long pole 
and pricking him with a pitchfork. 

The whole crowd of us then started out for the 
place where the thrashing machine was set. None 
of the wheat was stacked, but just stood in the 
shock, and had to be loaded on to waggons, and 
hauled to the machine. As I had not been at the 
work before, they put me to pitching the sheaves 
up on to the waggons, this being the work which 
required least experience. This work was rather 
severe and soon made me very tired. This job is 
hardest on the wrists, and mine soon became so 
sore that I had to tell the boss that I could not do 
any more of it, on which he set me to cut bands on 
the machine This work was a great deal easier 
than the other, but the dust nearly choked and 
blinded me. However, I stayed at it for five days, 
but by that time my eyes were so sore on account 
of always being full of dust that I told the boss I 
could stand it no longer and would leav^e. So he 



26 ADRIFT IN AMEUICA. 

gave me a check for my money and an intimation 
that if I stayed there any longer he shouhl charge 
me a dollar a day for my board. 

Next morning I rolled up my blankets and started 
for Fargo on foot. This was about my first experience 
of bonCi fide tramping, of which I was later on to do 
so much. The distance was only about 10 or 12 
miles, but the roads were very bad in parts, and 
here I may put in a word or two about roads in this 
part of the country. The methol of making them 
is simple in the extreme, though it can scarcely bo 
called efficacious, and consists in simply ploughing 
up a strip of land the width it is intended to make 
the road, dragging it down with a harrow, and then 
leaving the traffic to do the rest. If just after the 
road is made there happens to come a spell of rainy 
weather, the whole affair is soon reduced to a quag- 
mire, and the consequence of this is that people 
drive out on the sides of the road in search of 
firmer ground, thus making another road which in 
its turn is reduced to the same condition as the 
original one. In some places where there was a 
depression in the prarie, I have seen as many as 
seven or eight tracks of this kind, all churned up 
into a ditch of mud. This kind of thing renders it 
necessary for a foot passenger to make a ^vide 
circuit to avoid the mud, and then if he is not 
remarkably careful he will get in over his knees, as 
indeed I myself did on more than one occasion 
during this walk. And the condition of these roads 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 27 

is altered but not greatly improved by a continued 
spell of fine "weather, as the soil here is largely 
mixed with a kind of blue clay, locally known as 
"gumbo." Now, the roads being first cut up into 
ruts in rainy weather, cake to the hardness of a 
brick in that shape, so that when dry they are 
really dangerous to travel on, especially in the 
dark. 

But to return to my tramp. I walked on lively 
enough for the first two or three miles, but after a 
bit the roughness of the roads began to tell on me 
as I was not used to much walking at that time. 
Up to noon I had covered about half the distance to 
Fargo, and was pretty well fagged out. I then 
began to try to shorten the distance by cutting 
across the stubble, and by this means soon got so 
completely lost as not to have the least idea which 
way I was going. This would not have happened 
to me only the sky, which had been quite clear in 
the morning, had now become overcast, and I could 
not see the sun. I kept tramping on in uncertainty 
as to whether I was going to Fargo, or away from 
it, though it was now beginniug to get dusk, and 
the rain, which had been threatening since noon, 
began to fall in large drops which promised well for 
a good downpour before long. I now came into 
sight of a small house built of sods cut from the 
prairie, which T had not been able to see at a distance 
on account of its looking more like a mound of earth 
than a house. 



28 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

My spirits, which had been down to zero, now 
began to rise and I started for the house, being 
pretty sure of getting either shelter for the night or 
directions as to my way on to Fargo. However, 
when I got to the door I saw a tousled looking 
young woman and three or four half-naked children 
inside, all of whom seemed to regard me with any- 
thing but friendly feelings. The woman jumped up 
and banged the door in my face, and fastened it on 
the inside, and all I could do would not induce her 
to open it again. Eut she opened a window and 
motioned me to go away, and spoke in some 
lanouaoe I could not understand, but which, I think* 
was Norwegian or Swedish. Seeing that there was 
no hope of shelter or information here, I started off 
again. It was now getting quite dark and the rain 
was falling heavily. I was certainly in a fix, and I 
could see nothing for it but a night on the open 
prairie in the rain. It was anything but a pleasant 
prospect. However, just as I had made up my mind 
that there was no chance of anything else but to 
stay out in the open all ni^ht, I caught sight of a 
bright light in the distance which I at once recog- 
nised as the electric light on the big tower at Fargo, 
and which I had heard could be seen for a distance 
of 20 miles across the prairie in clear weather. I 
at once struck out for the light, going over every- 
thing in my way. I was completely fagged out by 
this time, and could scarcely drag one leg after the 
other. The rain was making the ground muddy 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. ii^ 

and slippery, and as it was pitch dark I kept falling 
over obstacles that I could not see, and slipping and 
stumbling into mud-holes until I was bruised and 
plastered with mud from head to foot. 

I now could see by the increasing number of 
lights that I was getting close to the city, and I 
began to feel in better feather, when all at once I 
went over head and ears into a slough, a long- 
narrow stretch of water formed by a depression in 
tbe prairie, which in this instance was stagnant and 
stinking. After floundering about for some minutes 
I crawled out on the right side, nearly blinded and 
stifled by the filthy water, some of which I had 
swallowed. 

A few hundred yards more put me in the main 
street at Fargo, and a more wretched and bedevilled 
object probably never landed there since the first 
house was built. 

It being about midnight and raining, there were 
not very many people about, and every one had 
turned in at the Park House, the place where I had 
been staying when I was in Fargo before, and where 
I had left my traps. It took me about a quarter of 
an hour hammering at the door before I could 2"et 
in, and some time more before I could get at my 
trunk to get out a change of clothes. The night 
porter was inclined to be surly at first on account 
ol getting his nap spoiled, but when he saw the 
condition I was in he relented and gave me all the 
help he could, and procured me some whiskey which 



30 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

lie said would do me good; although it nearly 
poisoned me, I was glad to get it, as it seemed to 
put some life into me, and seemed to help warm 
me a bit. After getting shifted I turned in and 
AA^TS soon asleep, and so ended my first attempt at 
making a living in Dakota. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 31 



CHAPTER IL 

Winter on Maple River. 

After my long walk I slept rather late next 
morning, and should have slept later still if it 
had not been the custom of the house to have 
everybody out of bed before nine a.m. whether 
he liked it or not. There were a few who escaped 
the general turning out, but these were " bad men " 
who, when anyone knocked at their doors, blas- 
phemed horribly, and threw out dark hints about 
six-shooters and Winchester rifles. These worthies 
were left to themselves, and turned out when they 
liked, did just what they liked, got their breakfast 
when any other man would have been told that he 
could only have it at the appointed time, and if 
that did not suit him he could get out. I could 
have very well slept for an hour or two more, and 
if I had known that posing as a desperado would 
have gained me that privilege, I should certainly 
have done so, but as it was I turned out 
grumbling. 

I was now once more out of a job, and altogether 
too stiff and sore to care about looking for one that 
day. So I sat in the verandah and rested myself 



32 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

in an easy chair, and treated every offer of work 
witli scorn. I sent several would-be employers of 
labour away predicting that the day was not far 
distant when they would see every lazy blackguard 
in the town starving. 

The next morning the proprietor of the house 
came to me and asked me if I would take tlie job 
of " clerk," as the man who was at that time 
occupying that position was going to leave. As 
far as I could judge the work attached to the jol) 
"VAas not very hard, so I accepted his offer and 
started in on my new duties at once. I found that 
clerk was merely a name, as there were no duties 
to perform which required anything more than the 
simplest knowledge of reading and writing, and 
scarcely that. 

I was first of all required tc sweep out the office, 
i.e., the common room of the hotel, next to go into 
the back yard and cho]) firewood for the cook ; this 
took me up till dinner time, and then I got a spell 
for an hour or two. In the evening I had again to 
sweep out the office and repair to the back yard 
to make sure that there was wood enough chopped 
to go on with next morning. It was also part of 
ray duty to go out at meal times and ring the bell 
in the middle of the sidewalk. 

In the evening of the first day I made the 
discovery that it was also considered part of my 
duty to take all the drunken men to bed ; this was 
a very bad job indeed, and one of considerable 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 33 

danger at times when I got hold of a rough 
customer. 

I went on with this job for about three days, and 
was just about full of it — indeed I had made up my 
mind to give the boss notice to find another man — 
when a man named Beaver came there to stay the 
night. Business happened to be slack at the time, 
and I got into conversation with him. I found that 
he was more than usually intelligent, and, as far as 
I could judge, seemed to be rather a nice fellow. 
He asked me how I liked my job, and on my 
answering not at all, he offered to take me out on 
his farm, which lay about 40 miles west of Fargo, 
near a place called Castleton. I at once consented, 
and as we soon came to terms as to wages, I once 
more changed my occupation to that of a farmer. 

I squared up accounts with the boss of the hotel, 
and next morning, in company with my new boss, 
set off for Castleton. 

There was no regular passenger train running 
that morning, so we went on what is called an 
" accommodation," that is, a freight train with a 
passenger car at the end of it. The road-bed was, 
not in very good condition ; we were continually 
stopping to put out and pick up cars, and our 
progress was slow. We stayed on a siding out 
in the middle of the prairie for nearly an hour to 
let the east-bound mail pass us. Owing to the 
slow progress we made, it was pretty well on in 
the afternoon wheu we arrived at Castleton. This 

p. 1C40. c 



34 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

place was merely a clump of frame-houses witli a 
churcli a?id a bank, and a couple of hotels, and 
about 1,500 inhabitants, but was considered a town 
of considerable importance. 

It being too late to go out to the farm that 
night, Beaver put me into one of the hotels, 
and went home himself, as he had a house there 
where his wife kept boarders. My night at this 
place was enlivened by a free fight, which started 
just as T had gone to bed. As far as I could find 
out the row was the outcome of whiskey drinking. 
Two of the men who were taking a leading part in 
the row were thrown out into the back yard to 
finish their quarrel by themselves, and there one 
of them was found next morning with his brains 
knocked out. The weapon with which it had been 
done was a spade. The other fellow had made 
himself scarce, and, as far as I ever heard, was 
never caught. 

After breakfast next morning Beaver, whom for 
the future I shall call Hank, put in an appearance 
with a waggon and a pair of horses, and we started 
for his farm, which was situated on the Maple 
River about eight miles away from Castleton. As 
the waggon was heavily loaded, and we had to go 
at a walking pace, it was well on in the afternoon 
when we arrived at our journey's end. 

This place requires no description, as it was the 
counterpart of the other place I was at thrashing, 
only not quite so big. We had two days of 



.ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 35 

thrashing to do here, and after that was over I 
was put to ploughing with a sulky plough. This 
"was a job that suited me hotter than anything I 
had struck since coming up to Dakota. 

But although I liked the job of ploughing well 
enough, I met with an adventure after being at it 
for a few days that came very near costing me my 
life, or at the least some broken bones. The way 
of it was this : — There is a kind of weed very 
plentiful in this part of the country which is 
commonly called the tumble weed ; w^hat its right 
name is I do not know. The peculiarity of this 
weed is that it grows on a very small stem, but 
branches out at the top into the shape of a ball 
and often grows to a very large size. In the fall 
of the year these w^eds die and dry up, but unlike 
most other kinds of weeds, they do not stay where 
they die, but break off close to the ground, and 
the wind rolls them over and over, and being very 
light the slightest breeze will send them skipping 
and jumping across the prairie like a herd of deer 
or antelopes, for which they are often taken by 
people fresh to the country. On the occasion of 
which I am now speaking I was driving four horses 
in what is called a gang plough, that is a plough 
with two shares, so constructed that the ploughman 
rides on the plough instead of walking behind it. 
The ploughshares are manipulated hy means of a 
lever. It may be necessary to mention that the 
horses used for this job are not the same as are 

C2 



30 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

used for ploughing in England, but a kind of light 
coach horse which will do just as good work 
between the shafts of a buggy or as a saddle hack 
as it will in the plough. It was about the 
middle of the forenoon, when the team was com- 
paratively fresh, that a lot of these tumble weeds 
came jumping and frolicking one over the other 
like a herd of some curious kind of animals, and 
two or three of the largest stuck in between the 
legs of my leaders, which unfortunately were a pair 
of skittish and half -broken colts. I could see at 
once that I was going to have a bolt, so I took hold 
of the lever, and, throwing the plough out, settled 
myself firmly in my seat to try and guide the team 
over the smoothest ground, and if possible avert a 
smash. In about half a minute I was flying across 
the prairie at nearly racing speed, for the horses 
were thoroughly frightened, and the more they 
galloped the more they seemed to me to scare 
themselves. The plough being a light kind, and 
much like a sulky, danced and jumped about in 
such a manner as to make it a very difficult matter 
indeed for me to keep my seat, let alone guide the 
horses. However, I managed somehow or other 
to keep them clear of any serious obstacle, till, 
after a gallop of about three miles, Lhey pulled up 
of their own accord, but not till they were regularly 
played out and not much good for work for the 
rest of that morning. After this mishap Hank 
decided not to use the gang plough any more but 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 37 

to use tvv'o slno-le-furrow sulkies with tliree horses 
each. I forgot to mention that Hank one evening 
gave me a rifle and a lot of cartridges, and sent me 
on a fool's errand to shoot tumble weeds, which he 
said were antelope. I walked some considerable 
distance before I found out the trick that had been 
played me. 

Some time in the summer, and before I came up 
to that part of the country, Hank had bought the 
right to cut the hay on a school section. This hay 
was now standing in three large stacks in the 
middle of this section. I may as well explain, for 
the benefit of those who do not know, that a school 
section is a section of land, i.e., a square mile, set 
apart by the Government for the purpose of raising 
funds for buildint/ and maintaining schools. There 
was an old man living a few miles from us whose 
name was Gallagher, who owned about twenty 
scrub colts, which he used to let run wild in 
defiance of the law and to the great annoyance of 
everyone in the neighbourhood. Most people 
at one time or other had suffered loss through 
these animals, but did not like to kick up a row 
about it for fear of appearing unneighbourly. 
These beasts had lately been tearing down Hank's 
hay stacks, and he had sent me with a horse to drive 
them away, which I had done several times, but 
thtry always came back again. Of course it was 
not likely that Hank was going to stand the loss 
and destruction of his hay, and it was quite out of 



33 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



the question to keep a man, that he was paying" 
wages to and wanted for other work, continually 
running after another man's horses. He had told 
Gallagher about it once or twice, but to no purpose ; 
so one Sunday morning, when we saw the old 
fellow riding down the road, Hank jumped up and 
said to me, " Now, you come along and hear what 
this old cuss has got to say about those colts of 
his." When he came up to us he stopped, and 
Hank in a very temperate manner put the case 
before him, saying that, much as he regretted the 
necessity, if something was not done at once to 
stop the depredations that were being committed 
on his hay stacks, he should have to take pro- 
ceedings at law to recover the damage. 

At this Gallagher took rather high ground, and, 
trying to run a bluff on Hank, said, "You can't do that, 
you know, for there is no law on a school section." 

" Oh," said Hank, " no law on a school section ; 
are you quite sure of that ? " 

"Quite," said he. "I have known of several 
cases where it has been tried, but it was always 
decided the same way." 

" Very good," said Hank, turning to me ; " now 
we knov/- that there is no law to stop a man from 
doing what he likes on a school section, you and I 
will take our rifles and shoot those darned colts as 
soon as we have had our dinner." 

This view of the case had never struck old 
Gallagher, and completely staggered him, so that 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 39 

he promised to see to the matter, and this time he 
kept his promise, which was a very good thing for 
his colts, though if he had not done so the job of 
shooting them would have been a little break in the 
monotony of farm labour. 

There was one other man working on Hank 
Beaver's place besides myself, and for a long time 
we were both at this same job of ploughing which 
was my usual work ; he ran one plough and I the 
other, and we both had three horses to look after. 
After we had finished Hank's own land he put us 
to ploughing for the neighbours, he taking the 
contract at so much an acre. 

This work was very pleasant as long as the 
weather was fine, but when the frosts began to 
come in it got to be very cold and miserable. We 
ploughed up to the tenth day of November. On the 
morning of that day I went out as usual muffled 
up in a buffalo overcoat and long boots, with my 
head in a big fur cap. I made two or three 
unsuccessful attempts to get the plough point into 
the hard frozen ground, but seeing it was no good 
I gave it up for a bad job, and went back to the 
house. 

We then put the ploughs in a shed after greasing 
all the working parts, returned the horses to the 
stable, and set to work to prepare the house for the 
coming hard weather. This is rather a peculiar, 
and to a stranger, rather a disgusting job, and 



•iO ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

consists in banking the house up all round with 
stable manure. If there is enough manure this is 
done to a thickness of several feet, and as high up 
as the eaves. After finishing this job there was 
not much we could do, as the weather became more 
and more severe every day. 

As there was not any work of a profitable nature 
being carried on, Ilank could not afford to pa}' any 
great amount of wages, so he offered to give me 
$10 a month to stay and look after the place 
during the winter. This does not seem much, but 
in reality it was a very liberal ofi'er, for many 
people in that country in the winter are glad to 
get a job to work for their board instead of paying 
for it, as they would otherwise have to do. Seeing 
nothing better, I closed with his offer, and prepared 
to put the winter in as comfortably as circum- 
stances would permit. 

Now Hank had a wife and a fairly comfortable 
house in Castleton, so it was not to be expected 
that he should stay out on the farm when there was 
nothing more to be done, as he had a man there 
whom he could trust to look after the place. So in 
a day or two after it had frozen up, he hitched up 
a team, and put on a load of hay to take to his 
place in town, where he kept a cow. He left plenty 
of everything in the way of provisions in the 
house, enough to last me all the winter, and I had 
a running order on the store at a place called 
Durban, on the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba 



^? 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



41 



line Avliicli was situated about five miles away. All 
tbe work I had to do was to feed and water four 
horses and two bullocks, and clean the stable out 
when the weather was sufficiently mild to allow me 
to do so. This, together with cooking my own 
grub, was all I had to do, and before th.e finish I 
found it too little. 

There was nothing at all in the house to read, 
and when the weather was too bad for me to get 
out I spent all the time I could sleeping ; but this 
resource soon failed me, and I was sometimes 
nearly melancholy mad, although some days the 
weather would be beautifully fine, without a breath 
of wind, the sky a clear blue, and the air so clear 
and transparent that things miles off* across the 
prairie looked quite near. 

There was not much for me to hunt, the jack- 
rabbit being the only thing there was to be got. 
The word jack as applied to rabbit is a contraction 
of jackass-rabbit, given them on account of their 
long ears and large size generally. It is rather a 
hard thing to shoot these fellows after the snow 
flies, as they turn quite white. They are not at all 
timid, and on more than one occasion I got quite 
close to one, and all I could see of him was a pair 
of pink eyes staring at me out of the snow, then 
before I could realise that it was a rabbit and get 
my gun on it, away it would w^hisk across the 
prairie, scattering a small cloud of frozen snow 
in its wake, and leave me to go and look for 



42 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



another, to bo served in the same way when I 
found him. 

There was also a kind of prairie fowl very 
plentiful about here which the people called grouse. 
These birds were very easy to shoot as they would 
roost in some of the low stunted bushes that grew 
in places along the banks of the Maple River, 
sometimes as many as 15 or 20 in a bunch. 
The report of a gun would not frighten them a 
bit, and they would sit there until I had shot the 
whole lot. I soon got tired of this kind of hunting, 
and should never have troubled after any more of 
them, only they were good eating, and I used to 
keep a supply on that account. 

After he had been in town about a week, Hank 
put in an appearance again one afternoon ; he had 
come up to see how I was getting on and to haul 
in another load of hay. It was very lucky for him 
that he came that day instead of the next, as about 
noon on the next day, and that would have been 
about the time when he would have been half-way 
on his journey, one of those storms known in 
Dakota and the western countries as a blizzard, 
started in and stayed with us for three days. This 
one was the first thing of the sort I have ever seen, 
though I had often heard and read about them. 
The reality was so much worse than anything I had 
ever imagined, that I thought it was a more than 
commonly bad one. On my telling Hank so he 
laughed, and said it was quite an ordinary one. As 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 43 

I said before, it started about noon ; we were 
sitting down to dinner when all at once the sun, 
which had been shining brightly, became obscured, 
and though we were in a warm house with a large 
stove red hot, we at once became sensible of a 
lowering in the temperature. Hank jumped up, 
and going to the window looked out and remarked, 
" she's here." '' Who's here ?" said I. " A blizzard," 
he answered. As he spoke it was on us, with a 
peculiarly dreary kind of wailing sound, and the 
air was at once as dark as midnight. The snow 
was not falling, but was being driven along in a 
line with the earth by the wind, which was now 
blowing almost a hurricane. The snow was not 
what people in Europe generally see, but more like 
finely powdered glass, which stuck to and froze 
fast on anything it touched. 

There had been an old breaking plough left just 
outside the house, and Hank said, it must be moved 
at once, or it would raise a snowdrift that would 
bury up the door yards deep, and, when it was 
once started, perhaps the whole house. The thing 
being only a few yards away, I was going to run 
out and just move it, and come back again. But 
Hank said, " Just you stop a bit ; don't go and 
commit suicide." He then told me to put on my 
wool-lined rubber boots and a big overcoat, also to 
wrap up my ears carefully. He then got a long 
line, and tied it round my waist, and seeing that I 
had no gloves on, made me put them on at once. 



•^•4 ADlllFT IN AMERICA. 

" For," said he, " if you go out and catch hold of 
any of the ironwork about that plough with bare 
hands, you would have the flesh taken clean off to 
the bone, just as if you had taken hold of a piec3 of 
red hot iron." 

Ail being now ready, we went to the door. And 
Hank said, " Just you run out, and throw the 
plough round the corner of the house, and then 
follow the line back to the house. If you cannot 
find the plough, do not stay long, but come back at 
once." I was quite sure I knew where it was, and, 
opening the door, 1 made a bolt out to get it, but, 
after groping about for a minute or two, I was glad 
to go back to the house. All the hair that showed 
under the rim of my fur cap was full of frozen 
snoWj and my face smarted as if it had been 
scalded. I made two more attempts before I 
finally stumbled across the plough and put it out 
of the way. When I got back to the house again 
I felt as if every particle of warmth had been 
extracted from my body, and my fur cap and 
buffalo overcoat were both coated with frozen snow, 
so that I looked like an image of Father Christmas. 
Hank shoved me in the back room, where there was 
no stove, for me to warm up by degrees. A nice 
place to warm in certainly, when the thermometer 
stood 25° below zero there, and a half bullock 
that was hanging there was frozen so hard 
that we could scarcely hack a piece oS" with a 
felling axe. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 45 

The blizzard lasted till the afternoon of the third 
day, and during that time, of course, wo could not 
leave the house for anything. 0:i the morning of 
the second day, on going into the bick room, which 
was on the weather side of the house, we found it 
about a quarter full of snow, the whole of it having 
come in through a crevice in a corner of the 
window-frame that had been overlooked when we 
were filling up the chinks. This was no bigger 
than an ordinary keyhole, but in those few hours it 
had let in nearly a ton of snow, and would have let 
in a great deal more if it had been higher up, as it 
only stopped when the snow on the inside came to 
the level of the hole and plugged it up. On the 
afternoon of the third day, when the storm let up, 
Hank and I went out to survey the premises, and 
found the barn where the horses and bullocks wero 
converted into, or rather covered by, a small 
mountain of snow. We at once proceeded to dig 
the door out, to give the poor beasts some water 
and hay. This we did not accomplish that night, 
and next morning, when we got the stable door 
open, we had another job as big to dig out one side 
of a haystack. 

Long before we could get the stable door open 
we could hear the horses whinnying when they 
heard us coming, but when we got the door open 
their joy knew no bounds ; it was worth all the 
work just to see how pleased they were at the 
prospect of getting a feed and a drink of water. 



40 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

They would not eat anything till they had water, 
and, as they would not touch the frozen snow, we 
had to cut a hole in the ice, which was no small 
job, as it was frozen several feet thick. We used 
to melt snow for our own use, but it was too long 
a process to be any good for watering the cattle. 

After a day or two Hank went back to Castleton 
with another load of hay, and I was once more left 
to my own devices. 

A favourite amusement of mine at this time, 
when the weather was mild enough to allow me do 
it, was to go out in the morning and cut holes in 
the ice. The musk-rats would then come out, and, 
as I came back to the house, wherever I found a 
track from a hole, I used to follow it up till I saw 
the rat, and then run him down and kill him with 
a club. Tt is a very easy matter to run them down, 
as they are not at all quick when they are once out 
of the water, though smart enough when in it. 
Their skins are worth from 15 to 25 cents each, 
according to size and quality. I had some traps as 
well, but did not have much luck with them. 

After what I had seen of the blizzard, I was 
frightened to go far away from the house for fear 
of another one coming on, as there is always a 
danger of one at any minute, and if it catches a 
man any distance from a place of shelter, it is ten 
to one he. will be frozen to death, and no one know 
where he is till the crows find him when the snow 
melts in the spring. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 47 

There was now another thing that began to be 
annoying, and that was the wolves howling round 
the house at night. About two weeks before it 
froze up we had a mare taken sick, and when she 
died we buried her at the back of the barn, and 
now the wolves used to come every night and try 
to dig her up, and the snapping and snarling, 
varied by a howl, first from one and then from 
another, then a full chorus from the whole pack, 
was about as dismal and eerie a sound as I have 
ever chanced to hear. I have heard it said that 
frost destroys scent, but that is all rubbish, or hoAV 
did the wolves know that the mare was buried there 
when the ground was frozen so hard that I could 
not drive the point of a pickaxe into it more than 
about an inch at a time ? I put up with the noise 
for a night or two, thinking they would give it up 
as a bad job ; but not a bit of it ; they meant to 
have that mare, or die there themselves. 

So being about tired of their music, I made up 
my mind to try and stop it. The nio-ht when 
I came to this resolution was beautifully clear, 
with a full moon, and besides that the northern 
lights made it nearly as light as day. I turned in 
as usual, after filling the stove up to the top and 
putting the damper on, so it would burn till 
morning. I had not been long turned in, and was 
thinking what a fool I was to be in such a position, 
when up started the concert again. I was feelino- 
dismal enough before, but this put the set on my 



43 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

temper properly. So out of bcT I jumped, and 
getting into my clothes, I went for ray Winchester 
rifle, and going up to the top room — I was afraid to 
open the shutters of the lower window for fear they 
might try to get in — and opening the window, I 
started to knock them over. There were seven 
there, and they stood till I had shot the last one. 
They did not seem to know or care what was 
happening to tliem. I have read and heard it said, 
that if one wolf out of a pack is shot, the others 
will eat him ; however, these did not attempt to do 
anything of the sort. As no more put in an 
appearance that night, I had a bit of a quiet spell 
of it. The next m.orning I went out and tried to 
skin one, but he was frozen as hard as a rock ; so I 
just left them there ; and although wolves used to 
be round every night and sometimes in the day, I 
never saw that they tried to eat any of the deal 
ones. 

It was now well on in December and the winter 
was in full swing, but as there was about four 
months more of it to come, I began to think I had 
made a rather foolish arrangement by deciding to 
spend it in Dakota, My mind began to dwell on 
what I had heard about New Mexico and Texas 
and California, and I determined that when Hank 
came oat again I would make a shift to a more 
genial climate. It was nearly a week before he put 
in an appearance, during which time my life went 
on as usual, and I got more and more lonely and 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



49 



thoroughly made up my mind to get away on the 
first opportunity. 

At lasb one day Hank turned up. and I told him 
that I would settle up and leave the country. He 
tried to dissuade me from going, and said it was 
very foolish to make a move at that time of the 
year, and it would have been well for me if I had 
listened to him, but my mind was made up, and 
south I would go in spite of all he could say to me. 
Seeing it was no use to talk to me he gave me what 
he owed me, which together with what I had, made 
about $90, not a great deal to start out on in the 
dead of winter in a strange couutiy ; but I had 
made up my mind to go, and go I would in spite of 
everything. So when Hank went in I went in with 
him, taking my things along with me. I began to 
find that to travel in America one must travel light, 
so I got rid of my trunk and packed just what I 
thought 1 needed in a valise, and that, with a 
Winchester rifle and a cartridge belt, was all my 
baggage. 

When we got into Castleton it was too late for 
the east bound mail and there was no train till the 
next day. I stayed that night at Hank's house and 
all the next day, as the train was not due till late in 
the afternoon. He still tried to persuade rae to 
stay and go back to the farm, but it was no good. 
I was bound south, so I bade him good-bye. 



p. 1040. 



50 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER III. 

South towards Santa Fe. 

Of my journey from Castleton down to St. Paul 
I know nothing, as it was dark all the way till just 
before we got to St. Paul. I had only taken a 
ticket as far as there, as I heard that various 
railway companies were cutting rates and that there 
would be a chance of a cheap ride for perhaps as 
far as I wanted to go. However, in this I was 
disappointed, and I had to pay the full fare. I 
went from here to Omaha in Nebraska, but do not 
remember a great deal about the journey except 
that, although there was no snow or frost, it was 
continually raining. Every place we passed was 
deluged with mud, and all the inhabitants appeared 
to have been damp so long that they were going 
mouldy. In fact, the whole face of the country 
seemed to be bleared over and everything was in a 
very moist and uncomfortable condition. 

All this was very depressing ; I felt very 
miserable and began to suspect that I had made 
a fool of myself by being in such a hurry to 
leave a place where I was well off and sure of a 
job as long as I liked to atay. The state of 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 51 

my purse, too, was not as satisfactory as it 
might liavo beeo, and I began to see that railway 
travelling was I'ather more expensive than I had 
reckoned on. 

It was about 9 or 10 a.m. when I arrived in 
Council Bluifs ; it was raining steadily and every- 
thing had a steamy and generally uncomfortable 
look. It was here, looking from the window of the 
car as we crossed the bridge that spans it and 
connects Council Bluffs with Omaha, that I first 
saw the Missouri River. It was not by any means 
a lively sight. A mighty river doubtless, but it 
looked to me also a mighty dirty one ; the water 
was the colour of yellow ochre and I could see 
things that appeared to be snags sticking up in two 
or three places. 

Arriving in Omaha I left my valise in the depot 
and had a look round the town, but could not see 
anything that at all enticed me to stay. I went to 
two or three employment agencies, but could come 
at nothing satisfactory, so I determined to push 
away further south at once before my money was 
all done. 1 went round to all the railroad ticket 
ageuts, called scalpers, in the city, and at last 
decided to go down as far as Topeka in Kansas, 
as that was the cheapest journey I coidd pick out 
for the distance. After paying for the ticket I had 
still about 15 dollars left. It was not much to 
me in my then state of ignorance with regard to 
making money spin out, but enough to have taken 



^- ADRIFT IN AMEIUCA. 

me across the coutinent if I had known as much 
about travelling as I was soon to learn. 

When I arrived at Topeka, which is the capital 
city of Kansas, the sun was shining, there had been 
no rain there lately and the place looked quite 
cheerful. My spirits began to rise again and I 
determined to make a stay and see if there was 
anything in the way of work to be obtained. I 
went round the town to have a look for a cheap 
place to stay at, and finding one suited to 
my means down by the Atchison, Topeka, and 
Santa Fe railway depot took up my quarters 
there. Even this place, which was only a dollar a 
day house, would, 1 knew, be too expensive a place 
for me to stay at very long unless I could get 
something to do pretty soon. I rustled round 
but could not get a job, as things were very slack 
at that particular time of the year. 

The house I was staying at being near to the 
depot and a cheap place, was much frequented by 
train men, particularly brakesmen ; one of these 
was rather a nice fellow and I struck up an 
acquaintance with him. In the course of con- 
versation one day he advised me to go further 
west, as he said I should stand more chance of 
getting something to do there than if I stayed in 
Topeka. On my saying that I had no money to 
spend in railway travelling, he looked at me in a 
rather surprised way and said, " Well, you certainly 
must be green to pay away your money to railroad 



ADrxIFT IN AMERICA. 



.^3 



companies wlien you can travel for nothing if you 
like." 

" Travel for nothing ?" said I ? " What do you 
mean i 

" Why," replied he, " just go down to the freight 
yards and find out when there is a train going your 
way, and get into a box car and keep quiet till the 
train starts. You will get a bit of a lift on your 
journey even if they find you and put you off at the 
first stop. And then all you have to do is to wait 
till another train comes along, get on to it, travel as 
far as you can, and then take another, and so on 
till you get to the end of your journey. You will 
soon pick it up, and you will meet lots of men 
doing the same thing who will put you up to all 
the dodges. I tell you it is a long way ahead of 
paying your fare : just you try it !"' 

" But," said I, " how^ about ray baggage ?" 

" Oh ! that's all right," he said, " express it to 
the place you are going to, and when you get there 
all you have to do is just to go and get it." 

lie then offered to take me down to the yards 
any night I wanted to go, and told me a great deal 
about " beating " which was then quite new to me. 

For to beat one's way, or to beat the conductor 
or the railroad, are equivalent phrases for travelling 
in the cars without paying any fare, and it is the 
usual means by which the wandering tramp, who 
has seldom any great liking for actual tramping, 
shifts his quarters from some undesirable locality 



•'54 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

where food is scarce and people unkind to another, 
where he hopes to find things better from his point 
of view. As he is not only a bird of passage, but 
a bird who prefers a country where it is moderately 
warm at nights, the same man will sometimes spend 
his summer in Montana or Dakota, and luxuriously 
winter in warmer Mexico or Southern California, 
and the thousands of miles which intervene he 
dexterously accomplishes by beating his way. As 
a matter of fact, it is not only the professional 
tramp who cheats the railroad, though to be sure 
he is the most skilful hand at it, but any one of 
enterprise without money who finds it necessary to 
do a long piece of travel in some emergency. I 
acknowledge "the corn" myself, as they say across 
the Atlantic, and I owe no few dollars to the 
various railroads of the United States. But to 
get to particulars, which I learnt afterwards, for 
I was green enough at this time. 

There are many ways of avoiding payment both 
on freight and passenger trains. To travel con- 
stantly by an express passenger is a kind of blue 
ribbon among tramps, and there are some far too 
proud to condescend to a freight train, which they 
leave to the more humble-minded and less daring 
of their brethren. As to methods, there are two 
chief ones, the first the " Universal Ticket," and 
the other " Jumping the Blind Baggage." These 
expressions would convey no meaning at all to 
most people even in America unless they happened 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 55 

to be acquainted with these methods of travel and 
the phraseolo,f]fy of the men who make a kind of 
profession of them. The universal ticket is a 
board, with some notches cut in it to fit the iron 
stays running underneath the carriages, and on 
this seat the tramp sits in a crouching attitude 
while the dust whirls about him as the train runs 
from one stopping place to another. The time 
chosen is almost invariably night, and it is no 
uncommon thing to see the conductor go along 
the train and look with his lamp for such unautho- 
rised travellers. But these birds are too downy 
to be caught with such chaff ; they hop off the 
moment the train stops, get into the darkness on 
one side, and the moment the train starts they 
jump out as quick as lightning, fix their board 
again, and go ahead once more. The " Blind 
Baggage Racket" is to get on the baggage car, 
which has a door at one end only. The end 
without a door nearest the locomotive is technically 
termed blind, and the tramp will sit there quite at 
his ease until the train slows up. As soon as it 
does he is ofi" and hides, and only gets on again 
when it is in motion. I heard of a wooden-legged 
man who was the smartest hand ever known at this 
trick. 

Another method which works equally well on 
both passenger and freight trains is to get on the 
engine just above the pilot, or cow-catcher, under- 
neath the great head -light, which forms such a 



50 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

noticeable feature of American engines at night. 
This light is so blinding that it is hard to sec if 
anyone is there or not, and often a tramp can get 
a lift of a hundred miles without moving from his 
seat. Then if he is seen and has to get off, all he 
has to do is to wait for the next train, and jump 
that. A man whom I loiew, who was knocking 
about America in much the same way T did myself, 
was once ignominiously ejected from a freight train 
in New Mexico. He said nothing, but waited for the 
passenger express, jumped the blind baggage, and 
went past the freight train as it lay side-tracked, 
and when it came in at the station to which he had 
been bound, he was seated on a box on the platform 
kicking his heels. " Hullo ! young fellow," said 
the brakesman, " how did you come here ? " " Oh," 
said he, " I was too tony," (high-toned, proud) " to 
come on a freight. I came on the Thunderbolt." 

But most beating is done on freights as they are 
so much easier, and most tramps prefer to get in a 
closed car, a box car as it is called there, or, as 
they humorously express it, a " side-door Pull- 
man." These cars have a sliding door in each side, 
and a little door at each end. When the train is 
composed mainly of empty cars, the doors are often 
open, and never sealed, hence it is easy enough to 
get into them. But when they are full the little 
end doors are usually bolted, and the side doors 
scaled with a little leaden button or tag. It is an 
indictable offence to break these, and it requires 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA, 57 

some experience and ingenuity to get into a car 
without doing so. Yet even that is to be done 
with care. The tramp selects his car as it stands 
in the yard before the train is made up, and taking 
a fish-plate he uses it as a lever to shift the door 
from its runners, and crawls in. Going to the 
end of the car he unbolts the little door, gets out, 
replaces the main door, gets in through the small 
one again, bolts it, and is safe, for none can see it 
has been tampered with, and no one can enter 
it without going through the same manoeuvres 
himself. He is safe then until the car reaches 
its destination. However, this is so difficult and 
complicated a task that few undertake it, and most 
are content to hunt for an unbolted end door, for it 
is nearly certain there will be one left so through 
carelessness. The brakesmen are continually on the 
look out for tramps, not always with the design of 
making them set off, but in order that they may 
" put up the stuff," in other words, give them 
something to allow them to ride. A few are so 
soft-hearted that they will let you go on without 
it, but most have to be propitiated with something, 
even a knife. I have even known a brakesman 
swap hats when his own was a worse-looking 
article. In Texas and New Mexico and Arizona, 
it is no uncommon sight to see two or three fellows 
riding comfortably on the top of the cars with the 
trainmen without anyone objecting, even the officials 
at the stations, for the conductor himself gets a 



58 



ADRIFT TN AMERICA. 



share of the few dollars the tramps are able to 
afford. 

I have often seen the " caboose," or conductor's 
car, half full of people ; but the conductor 
pocketed most of the cash. One day tAvo young 
niggers got on east of Sweetwater, which then, by 
the way, had the reputation of being one of the 
most murderous towns in North-west Texas, and 
the conductor asked them before everybody if they 
had any money. " If not, you can't ride " ; that 
was his ultimatum. 

Boys have the easiest time beating their way, for 
most conductors are not hard on them, especially if 
they prepare a yarn that they are going home to 
see a dying relation, and besides they often have 
more cheek or " gall " than their grown-up friends. 
One conductor on the M. K. & T. told me that a 
boy got on in Missouri once. When he was e.sked 
for his ticket, he candidly confessed that he had 
none. " Then you can't ride," said my friend, and 
went about his business, thinking the youth would 
take the hint. But not a bit of it ; after the next 
stopping place, he was still there. " What's this ?" 
said the conductor, " didn't I tell you to get off ?" 
" No," answered the boy simply, " all that you said 
was that I couldn't ride." " Indeed, well, this time 
I tell you to get off." He thought that Avould 
settle it, and yet after the next station the simple 
youth was still there. " How's this !" began the 
conductor, " didn't I tell you to get off?" " Yes, 



ADRIFT TN AMERTDA. 59 

sir, you did ; but you never said I was to stay off." 
The trainman eyed tlie youtli up and down, thinking 
ho was very soft, or very smart. " Well, bub, that 
is so, but now I tell you to get off, and stay off." 
But next time he was still there. Surely the boy 
could have no further excuses. He stared at him 
for a while, and all the passengers were laughing. 
" Come now, young fellow, what's this mean ? 
Didn't I tell you to get ofF, and stay off ?" The 
lad looked up without changing a muscle, and piped 
out " Yes, sir, I know you did, but as I stood on 
the platform you said * All aboard,* and so I 
thought you had changed your mind !" The 
passengers burst into a roar of laughter, in which 
the conductor at last joined. " Well, my boy," 
said he, " where do you want to go to ?" " To 
Haninbal, sir." "Very well, then, you can ride, I 
think you've earned it." Of course I did not learn 
all this at once. It had to be painfidly knocked 
into me, But there was a certain fascination in 
travelling without paying I admit. 

So seeing nothing else for it, I made up my mind 
to act on my friend, the brakesman's, suggestion, 
and, as a preparatory step I made a small bundle of 
some things I wanted, and packing the rest in my 
valise I expressed it down to Santa Fe in New 
Mexico. After paying my bill at the boarding- 
house I still had seven or eight dollars, which I 
carefully stowed away, and that night went down 
to the yards with my new friend, who, true to his 



Go AUltrrT IN AMEltlCA. 

promise, liid me awa}^ in a car. It was dark and 
damp, and did not smell very nice, but it was cheap 
riding and that was what I wanted, so I made up 
my mind to lump the unpleasantness of my position 
for the sake of economy. 

I was surprised, and not a little disgusted, when 
daylight came in to make the discovery that the 
car had last been used to convey hogs, and it had 
only had a rough clean out since, and as I had been 
lying on the floor all night, I was in a bit of a mess 
and had an unpleasant odour hanging about me for 
some time after. It was soon after daylight that 
we got to a place called Emporia, and the car that 
I was in was switched out of the train and left in 
the yard there. Not being used to this kind of 
travelling I was pretty glad to break my journey. 
I waited for some time in the car, not caring to come 
out, as I did not like anj^body to see me, being new 
to this business. However, after a bit I mustered 
up courage and made a start, but I saw nobody 
about, so I soon got out of the yard and took a 
Avalk up the main street. 

This town was a very quiet little place, and as it 
happened to be Sunday when I got there it was 
strikingly dull. There was nothing to be done that 
day I could see, so not caring to incur more expense 
than was necessary, I got something to eat at a 
lunch stand that wns in the depot, and put the day 
in lounging al)out the town. Towards evening I 
began to feel very tired, and this brought to my 



ADRIFT IN AMEllICA. 61 

mind thoughts of a bed, but I could see that my 
little stock of money would not last long if I 
indulged in any such luxuries. So as it was now 
getting dark I began to look about for a place to 
have a sleep. For a long time I could nob alight 
upon a suitable spot, till at last, as I was walking 
along the railway track looking to the right and 
left to see if there was anything like a barn or a 
haystack that would be likely to give me a bit of 
shelter for the night, I passed over a culvert that 
ran under the railroad, and, as there did not appear 
to be any water in the ditch, I jumped down to 
examine it, and to my joy found it quite dry, and 
lined with wood ; it was about three feet square 
and perhaps 25 or 30 feet long. A>^ the wind did 
not happen to be blowing right through it on this 
occasion, it made on the whole not a bad lodging. 
There was a rank growth of grass, which was now 
dead and dried like hay as it stood, in the ditch on 
either side of the track, so, taking my knife, I soon 
had a good lot of it cut, and spreading it on the 
bottom of the culvert, with my bundle as a pillow, 
I made a much more comfortable bed than I had 
had the night before, or many times since for that 
matter. I found my lodging so comfortable that I 
slept till the sun was well up the next morning. 

Pulling one of the slabs down that the culvert 
was lined with, I planted my bundle there and 
sallied out to see if I could find any work. T 
asked everywhere that I thought at all likely, but 



62 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

it was all the same thing, things were dull, and no 
work to be had anywhere. I now began to feel 
rather blue. That evening I got the information 
from a man I talked with that there was a railroad 
in course of construction at a place called Council 
Grove, about 20 miles north of Emporia, and that 
there was a good chance of getting work. Hearing 
of nothing else I jumped on the train next morning 
and went to Council Grove. I had to pay for this 
journey as there was only one train in the 24 hours, 
and it went in the daytime. This was another 
dollar out of my stock, and to use an expression I 
heard a man make about his own, my pocket-book 
began to look as if an elephant had stepped on it. 

On arriving at Council Grove I found I had to 
walk seven or eight miles to get to the camp. It 
being then too late to start that day I was forced 
to spend more money for a lodging in a house, as it 
was still winter and a cold snap had set in, making 
it too severe to sleep out of doors. Next morning I 
started out in company with another man who was 
on the same lay as myself, and about noon we 
arrived at the camp. I inquired for the boss, and 
on finding him, asked for work ; he hired me at 
once at a dollar and forty cents a day, and informed 
me that I should have to pay $3 a week for board. 
He told me I need not go to work that day, but to 
go down to the camp and have a rest. 

The camp consisted of a number of tents pitched 
in a clump of stunted cotton-wood trees, about half a 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 63 

mile from where the work was going ou. There were 
two big tents that served as dining rooms, and a 
cooking tent, and three or four for sleeping 
purposes, besides some private ones belonging to 
men who had their wives and families with them 
and boarded themselves. The whole place had a 
very miserable and squalid appearance which at 
once gave me a fit of the blues that lasted me for the 
rest of the day. When night came I found out that 
there was nothing in the shape of bed-clothes in the 
camp, excepting the private property of the working 
men, and, as I had none, I stood a good chance of 
sleeping cold, and certainly should have done so if 
a man had not taken pity on me and shared his 
blanket with me. For this kindness I was very 
thankful, as the night was bitterly cold and the 
tent draughty ; and although we had a stove there 
was nothing to burn in it, because the timber round 
about was private property and none of it could be cut. 
In the morning we were all roused out before 
daylight by somebody beating a kerosine tin, and 
shouting " hash-pile ! " which my bed-fellow 
informed me was the signal that breakfast was 
ready, and adding that the first crowd in gets the 
best show, he kicked the blankets ofi" and jumped 
up, and I followed his example. No dressing 
was necessary, as nearly everybody lurned in all 
standing. We made our way to one of the 
boarding tents, and were fortunate enough to get 
in with the first crowd. 



64 



ADllIFT IN AMERICA. 



Wliat the second crowd got I cannot say ; what 
we who wore first had was enough to sicken anyone 
who was not used to it. It consisted of vile greasy 
fried pork and soda bread just hot out of the oven, 
and like putty ; molasses and coffee like mud. But 
I was hungi'y, and was beginning to learn not to 
be too particular, so I ate some of the horrible 
stuff and drank a little coflfee. 

After breakfast was over we all went down to 
the work, the boss sending me with a gang of men 
who were working in a " rock cut," as they called 
it. It was a place where the ground was rather 
high, and of a rocky nature, and so a shallow 
cutting had to be made. My work was loading 
the waggons with the fragments of rock and stuff 
got out by the blasting gang. I worked here as 
long as the job lasted, but that was only a week, 
for the weather began to get so severe that the 
contractor decided to " shut down " the work till 
spring, so everybody was paid off. When my 
board bill and a few things I had had from the 
store were taken out of my week's wages, I think 
it was 90 cents I had to take. Considering it' 
had cost me about two dollars to get the job and 
I had worn out as much in clothes and shoe leather, 
this could scarcely be considered profitable work. 
Leaving Council Grove, I went back to Emporia 
poorer by about a dollar than when I had left it, 
besides having put in a week of as hard and 
miserable work as ever I did in my life before or 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 65 

since. The weather, altlioiigli very cold, was dry, 
so I took up my quarters in tlie culvert again ; I 
improved it by stopping- up one end with a lot of 
stones and rubbish, and so made it quite a com- 
fortable lodo-ing^. I staved about here for three 
or four days, eating as little as I could, so as to 
make the money which I still had last as long as 
possible. However, be as careful as I would, it 
went little by little until one fine morning I found 
myself with just one five-cent piece (or a nickel, as 
they call it in the States) in my pocket, and no 
prospect of being able to get any more. As far 
as I could see there was nothing but starvation 
in front of me if I could not get some kind of 
employment. I hung on this five-cent all that day, 
and starved just to get my hand in. Next day it 
was too much for jne, and I went up town in the 
morning determined to spend the five cents in 
something to cat. 

Now, the momentous question was what to buy ; 
what would be the most substantial and satisfying 
thing I could get. There was not much choice, 
but I walked about for at least an hour before I 
could decide on what would be best, and at last 
determined to take cheese and crackers. I went 
into a store where a girl served me, and I believe 
she suspected what was up with me, for she gave 
me far more than I have ever had since for five 
cents. In fact, she gave me so much that with 
economy it lasted me for three meals, and as I only 

r- 1640. E 



66 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

allowed myself one meal a day, that was three days. 
After I had eaten up the last scrap of my cheese 
and crackers I began to feel terribly blue ; the 
idea of beggmg, or " bumming," as it is popularl}^ 
called out there, went strongly against my stomach, 
but that or starvation seemed now the onl}^ two things 
open to me. I stuck out for the whole of that day, 
but at night as I was going home to my culvert 
I had to pass a boarding-house that was much 
frequented by railroad men ; as I passed the door 
the boss came running out, and calling to me asked 
if I wanted a job. Of course I said I did, so he 
told me his second cook, or dish washer, had been 
suddenly taken sick, and he wanted a man tem- 
porarily. Of course I jumped at the chance. My 
wages were to be fifty cents a day and as much 
grab as I could eat ; this last clause in the agree- 
ment was what tickled my fancy at that time, and 
I suggested to the boss that I should like to take 
a little of it in advance. He readily agreed to this, 
and said, " Why in thunder, if you were hungry, 
did you not come and tell me ? You could always 
have had something to eat"; and he added, when 
I said that I was ashamed to beg, that I was a 
" darned fool" any way to go hungry when I could 
get food for the asking. 

There was no place for me to sleep on the 
premises, so the boss used to give me twenty-five 
cents every night to pay for a bed ; this I put in my 
pocket, and went to my dry culvert instead. So I 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 67 

made seventy-five cents a day instead of only fifty. 
I was here twelve days altogether, and became 
quite expert at washing dishes and pots and pans ; 
in fact, the cook one day told me confidentially that 
I was a great deal more use to him than the regular 
man. 

When I settled up with the boss here I had $9, 
and I felt quite rich. 

After this I went out in the country and got a 
job for a few days husking corn, but wishing to go 
further west, in the hope of getting more work and 
a better climate, I watched my chance one day 
and got on a west- bound freight train. However, 
the brakesman found me, and because I would not 
give him any money he put me off* at the first stop, 
a place called Haughton. This was only what is 
called a way station. There was nothing but a 
section house and a long siding, besides the usual 
offices attached to a small station. I inquired for 
work here, but was told to go back about two miles 
and I should find another section house, where I 
should most likely be able to get work that would 
be permanent as long as I wished to stay. So 
being rather disgusted with my poor success at 
travelling, I made up my mind to take a job if I 
could get one, and put off" going west till spring. 

So I set off" back again, and in due course came 
to the gang. On asking the boss for a job, he said 
he wanted a man, but the section house had been 
burned down a few days before, and as he and his 

E 2 



08 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

family and all his gang were living in a barn, lie 
did not know where he could find room for another. 
However, on my expressing my willingness to put 
up with anything, he said I should stay there that 
night anyhow, and he would see what could be 
done. 

It was well on in the afternoon, and as I had not 
liad anything to eat all day, I was rather hungry ; 
the section boss (I forget his name) was a very 
good fellow indeed, and no doubt suspecting that 
sach was the case, sent me up to the barn where 
he was camping and told me to ask the old woman 
for something to eat. I went up and found the 
place much more comfortable than I had expected 
it would be. The old woman was about twenty-six 
or seven I should say, and rather pretty, but when I 
communicated my business to her, she informed me 
she was too old to be had by a tale of that kind, 
but I could have something to eat if I would chop 
some firewood for her. I said nothing, but took 
the axe she gave me and went to the wood pile. I 
had only chopped two or three pieces when she came 
to the door and said " all right, drop that axe, and 
come inside and sit down ; I only wanted to see if 
you would work, I don't believe in feeding- 
professional bums." 

As soon as she got me inside the house she 
assailed me with a shower cf questions and never 
stopped till she had asked and got an answer to 
every question she coidd think of. 



iVpRIFT IN AMERICA. C9 

It was now close on dark, and she set about fixing 
the table for the gang to have supper. This 
occupation kept her tongue quiet a bit, and pre- 
sently the men came in and we all sat down to the 
best meal I had had for a long while ; for, with all 
her faults, and they were n:any, the boss's wife was 
a good cook. 



70 ADRIFT IX AMERICA, 



CHAPTER lY. 
Joint ahead and centre back. 

After we had eaten our supper, whicli was as I liave 
said the best I had had for a considerable time, the 
question of sleeping accommodation came up, and 
I was shown into the hay loft of the barn which 
was the sleeping apartment of the whole gang. We 
were altogether 10 in number. There was a good 
pile of soft hay at one end, and by pulling this down 
and spreading the blankets that the boss lent me on 
it, I very soon made a much more comfortable bed 
than I had s^ept on for some time. It certainly 
was better than the culvert though not so private. 
I was glad to have some place to sleep and work at, 
for the winter in this country was beginning to get 
very severe. Kansas, though it seems to be a good 
way to the south, is rather high up, and knocking 
about and sleeping in the open air begins at this 
time of the year to be not only uncomfortable, but 
even dangerous. 

It is true the wages for this job were not very 
large. They ^^ere only a dollar and ten cents a 
day, and out of this I had to pay three dollars a 
week for board. But I was glad then to get any- 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. >i 

thing whicli promised to be permanent. I must 
put the winter in somehow, and though I did not 
like pick and shovel work, 1 would rather do that 
than nothing, when nothing meant going without 
food and sleeping anywhere with a good chance of 
being frozen to death while doing it ; and fortu- 
nately those who workei with me were pretty good 
follows. 

As soon as breakfast was over in the morning 
we went out to work. Section work is track 
repairing ; every line in the United States is divided 
into divisions of various lengths, but about 150 to 
200 miles is the general length of them. Each 
division is under the supervision of a man who is 
called a division road master. Every division is 
again subdivided into sections varying in length 
from three or four miles up to as much as 10 miles 
according as the track is easy or difficult to keep in 
order. The sections are each presided over by a 
section boss, who has eight or ten labourers under 
him. The section boss is held responsible for the 
condition of his own section. I was now in the 
position of a railroad labourer, and as the boss was 
a very good fellow he looked over my shortcomings 
and helped me to learn my work. The work, as I 
said before, consists in keeping the track in order. 
In wet weather, when the road-bed is not well 
ballasted, the joints of the rails are very liable to 
sink out of the level, and the track to get out of 
line, and section work consists chiefly in remedying 



72 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



these defects, which are technically called low joints 
and high centres. As the boss gives his orders to 
his men, the expressions " joint ahead and centre 
back " are continually in his mouth to indicate to 
the men the places he wishes raised ; these words 
are used so much that they have passed into a kind 
of a by-word, and there is a song in which the refrain 
is — ■ 

"Joint ahead and centre Lack 
And Johnny go oil the car." 

Though the work was hard and dirty I did not find 
my position so bad as one might imagine. My 
greatest trouble here was the children. The boss 
had married a woman who had been divorced, and 
besides his own children he had got a whole host of 
infernal young imps that belonged to his wife's 
former husband. These little beasts tried all they 
could to make things as uncomfortable as possible. 
I never fully realised till this time how really 
exasperating badly brought up children could be. 
One Sunday, shortly after my arrival here, I heard 
the '• Missis'," as we all called her, send one of the 
younger children out to tell her eldest boy to come 
to the house, as she wanted him. The message he 
sent back was " You tell the old woman if she wants 
me just to keep on wanting, there is a sight better 
people than her that has had to die wanting." On 
receiving this message she went to the door and 
shouted out " All right, my buck, when I get a holt 
of you, I'll knock the stuflBng clean out of you." 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 73 

This was the kind of thing that was going on all 
the time when any of them were awake. 

I had only secured myself a place to stay just in 
time, for the weather began to get worse and worse 
every day. Snow began to fall, and the thermo- 
meter was often down to zero, and sometimes 
below. 

Every morning we used to go out on the track 
and do what was possible to be done, which, now 
the frosts had fairly set in, was not much. How- 
ever, we tinkered along as best we could, as a day 
lost meant a day's pay lost and the board bill to 
be paid just the same. Sometimes, however, the 
weather was so severe that it was quite impossible 
to do anything. On these occasions we stayed at 
home and sat round the fire, one man being sent 
out to walk over the track and see if there were any 
broken rails. For this he received his day's pay 
just the same as if he had been at work with the 
pick and shovel. All the rails being steel on this 
line, it was neces;;ary to keep a sharp look-out on 
them as they will fly just like glass in frosty 
weather. Several bad railway accidents have 
happened from this cause. In the majority of 
cases the snap is so clean that a green hand Avould 
most likely pass it by without noticing it at all, for 
it looks hardly more noticeable than a hair laid 
across the rail. 

About three weeks after I came to work at this 
place we were whistled up in the middle of the night 



74 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

by the east-bound mail. Tliey liad passed over a 
broken rail which, to use the popular expression, 
had nearly " ditched the train." The broken rail 
was about three miles west of the section house 
and at the top of a steep grade. Of course we had 
to turn out at once to repair the damage. The first 
thing was to go down to the tool-house and put 
what is called a hand-car on the line and go about 
half a mile east, to get a new rail from a place 
where a number of them was kept for such occa- 
sions as the present. After getting the rail we 
came back to the tool-house, and taking wbat tools 
were necessary for the job, we started to the broken 
rail. Considering the thermometer was 10° below 
zero and a blinding snowstorm was beating in our 
face, this was a job of no small magnitude. Shoving 
the car loaded with a steel rail and a lot of tools 
up a steep grade under such conditions as I have 
described is anything but child's play. 

When we got to work we had to place red lamps 
each side of us to w^arn anything that might be 
coming along that the lino was not safe, and 
it took one man all he could do runn.'ng from 
one lamp to another and brushing the snow off 
them so as to allow the light to be seen, even at a 
very short distance. From the time we left the 
section house till we got back was about four hours, 
but during that time I had suffered as much acute 
agony from the bitter cold and the touching of 
frozen iron as some more fortunate people are 



ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 



75 



called ou to go through in a lifetime. When we 
got up to the house we were glad to find that the 
" Missis " was up and had made a big pot of hot 
cofPee for us. I was more thankful for a cup of 
that coffee than I should have been for a cupful 
of twenty dollar gold pieces. We received a day's 
pay for this job, that being the rule when men are 
called out at night, even if the job does not last 
more than half an hour. And in my opinion that 
four hours' work was worth a month's pay or as 
much more as a rich man would give to be let off 
taking his share in it. 

As a general rule there was much sameness about 
this section work. It was pick and shovel and 
tamping bar day in and day out. It was only the 
conditions of frost and snow under which it often • 
had to be done that made it a little less monotonous 
if more painful. One day, when we had decided 
that the weather was altogether too bad to go out 
to work, as the thermometer was down 15° below 
zero and a piercing north-easterly wind blowing, 
carrying the frozen snow along in clouds, we were 
sitting round the stove,which we had been carefully 
nursing till we had it red hot all over and half-way 
up the pipe ; and as we u ere congratulating ourselves 
on the warmth, a west-bound coal train pulled up 
opposite the section house and set his whistle going 
for all he was worth. Of course we had to go and 
see what it was the trainmen wanted. 



'O ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

The conductor met the hoss, as he was going- 
down to the track, and tokl him that about half- 
way between our place and Emporia yards they had 
run over a cow. How the perverse bea^t happened 
to be on the track beat us all to find out, as cattle 
at this time of the year are in barns or under 
shelters that are built especially for the purpose. 
She had thrown a car oft' in the middle of the 
train. The rest of the train had kept the track 
all right, and towing this one car along for a 
distance of about a quarter of a mile, had raked 
all the spikes out of the sleepers (or ties, as they 
are called in the States), and broken the heads off 
the fish-plate bolts for the whole of that distance. 
This damage meant a stoppage in all trafiic till it 
was repaired. We all had to muffle up and start 
out at once. I do not think that any of the men 
who were with me will ever forget that day. 
Although we of course wore the most serviceable 
mittens that could be got, the frozen iron and steel 
that we had to be continually handling occasioned 
me, at least, the most exquisite pain. I felt as if my 
hands had been severely burnt and then my finger 
ends been jambed in a door. There was no such 
thing as shirking at this job, for we were all too 
anxious to get it over. However, work as hard as 
we would, it took us nearly all day. 

This job was really worse than putting in the 
broken rail, as it lasted much longer and the 
weather was much colder. The only advantage 



ADIUFT IN AMERICA. 77 

we had was the daj light. When we returned to 
the section house after finishing, we made the 
discovery that two of the gang had got their feet 
frozen. This was a serious matter and had to be 
attended to at once ; the regulation specific was 
applied in both cases, i.e., rubbing with snow. One 
of these men was an Irishman, and to do him 
justice he stood the pain of recovery like a brick, 
but the other one, who was an Alabama man, roared 
like a bull and nearly brought the rafters down. I 
was not surprised at it, as, although I was not 
actually frozen, the pain I experienced when I 
began to get warm was such as to make it a very 
difficult matter for me not to follow his example 
and yell. 

However, I contented myself with indulging in a 
considerable amount of profanity in chorus with 
the gang, chiefly directed against the luckless cow 
who had been the unconscious cause of all the 
trouble. 

This day's work was about the worst I had while 
I was on this section. After this the weather 
seemed to moderate ; there was not so much hard 
frost for the rest of the winter, and work was much 
less uncomfortable than it had been. 

There was one man in the gang, by name Iliram 
Eamp, quite a young fellow, but about six feet tall, 
and broad in proportion. What we should have 
done without him I reallv do not know, as he was 



78 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

tlie life of tlie wliole gang. But on one occasion 
lie came very near being the death of iis all by way 
of a change. 

It occiirred thus. — We were working one day at 
the top of Haiighton grade or incline, which was 
about two and a half or three miles long, and 
terminated in a sharp curve where a small trestle 
bridge crosses Plum Creek. It was evening, and 
our work being done for that day, we put the 
hand car on the line, and loading our tools on. we 
started for home, the boss standing by the brake to 
prevent the car from gaining too much way. Now 
it must surely have been the very devil of mischief 
who put it into Mr. Hiram's head to pick up the 
oil can and pour a stream of oil on the brake-wheel. 
No one saw him do it, but the effect beca'.ne at 
once apparent by the increased velocity with wliich 
the car shot down the grade, and the inability of 
the boss to use the brake effectively. 

Things now looked grave, for if we reached the 
bottom of the grade going at the rate we should 
have attained when we got there, it was patent to 
every one of us that the car must leave the track, 
which meant that we should all be flung into the 
dry bed of Plum Creek and dashed to pieces. 
However, this was not to be, for when we were 
about three-quarters of the way down, going, I 
should say, at least 35 or 40 miles an hour, we 
passed a " low joint" or a "high centre," which- 
ever the inequality in the track might be ; the 



ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 79 

car left the track witt a bound, and shooting us up 
in the air, amongst a shower of crowbars, pickaxes, 
shovels, and other tools, landed us all in the ditch, 
which fortunately was full of snow, for that was 
the only thing that saved us. Strange to say, 
no one was seriously hurt ; there were plenty of 
bruises and scratches, but nothing of a serious 
nature. The car was lying bottom up, and was 
most completely wrecked ; if anyone had happened 
to fall under it he must have been smashed to pieces. 

Oj. examining the remains of the car the boss 
found out what was up, and, knowing Hiram's 
weakness for larking, he taxed him with it. Hs 
owned it at once, and said he did it for a lark. 
" And one," said the boss, " which has nearly cost us 
all our lives. I'll give you your time when we get 
to the house, and you can go and lark somewhere 
else." 

He did s^et the sack, but was taken on asiain 
shortly afterwards ; but I think he got too much of 
a scare to try that trick again. At any rate, he was 
not likely to play it on me, for spring was now 
pretty near, and I began to think of going on 
towards New Mexico. 

After I had been at work at this Haughton 
section for a short time, I had sent down to 
Santa Fe, and had my baggage returned to me, 
and I now had more on band than it was convenient 
to carry ; so, not caring to be bothered, I turned as 
much as I could into money. 



^'^' ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

I also swapped my rifle to a farmer tliat lived 
near, getting a Smith and "Wesson revolver and 
$5 in cash for it. They only pay every month on 
the sections, and for the time men have put in since 
the last pay day they have to take what is called a 
time check, which is only negotiable at the head- 
quarters of the road ; or if it is too much trouble 
to go up to head -quarters, the man who is leaving 
will aell it to the boss for what he will give, which 
is generally about half what it is worth. As I 
thought it would now be good weather down south, 
I determined to start off at once. I took a time 
check, as I was going up to Topeka anyway. 

Having to pay board, and losing so much time 
on account of bad weather, my money did not foot 
up a great amount. I think $12 was about all I 
could muster, including what I had on my time 
check. This was certainly not a great deal to take 
after about 4r| months of the kind of work I had 
been at on this section. But it had to do. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER Y. 

Off Breaks ! 

I NOW had ail my possessions about me, and they 
consisted of little else than the clothes I itood 
upright in. I tramped from the section house into 
Emporia, where I managed to jump a freight the 
same night and got right up to Topeka without any 
trouble. On arriving at Topeka I went to the 
office and cashed my check, which was for four 
dollars. I then put up at the house I had been 
staying at before and began to make inquiries as to 
the best means of obtaining a " labour pass " down 
to some part of New Mexico. There happened 
to be a man staying at the same house, who 
also wanted to go down there, and as he was a 
native of the country and knew all the wrinkles, 
I was very fortunate to fall in with him. I[e 
introduced me to a man named Jerome Bricker, 
who was getting a gang of men together to go 
down to a place called San Marcial in New Mexico. 
The work was to be fencing the railroad, and the 
pay $1 60 c. a day, |3 a week to be paid for boarL 

p, 1G40. F 



82 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

He engaged me at once, but as it would be a week 
before he was ready to start I had all that time on 
my hands. 

I at once went down to the boarding-house and 
paid a week's board which cost ms $5 out of my 
little stock. I then bought a blanket, after paying 
for which I was very nearly " busted " again ; but 
having my immediate wants supplied and having 
secured a job that would lasrt all the summer if I 
wanted to stay, I cared little about my financial 
position being rather a bad one. 

Having nothing to do but loaf round, I spent 
all my time wandering about the town and saw at 
times some peculiarly American sights. 

It being the spring of the year and the frosts 
having broken up, Topeka was one vast mud-hole. 
The town authorities had a kind of a machine like 
a snow plough on a small scale, but having certain 
modifications to suit it to the different kind of work 
it had to perform. With this they were ploughing 
the mud off" the street car track. There were at 
least 16 mules hitched to this arrangement and 
they often got stuck and could not budge a foot. 
This was in the main street of the town ; Kansas 
Avenue I believe was the name of it. Some of the 
smaller streets were mere rivers of liquid mud. 

During my stay here I witnessed a sight no 
doubt common enough to the natives, but I had 
never seen anything like it before. This was what 
is called an " ice o^orge." The Caw or " Kansas 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 83 

River," as it is sometimes called, was in flood, and 
whirling down in its turbid stream vast quantities 
of ice together with all sorts of debris known in 
this country by the name of " flood traah." Some 
of the sheets of ice were apparently as much as 
S3veral hundred superficial feet in extent, and from 
three to four feet in thickness. These huge blocks 
and slabs of ice were crushing and grinding one 
over the other, and sometimes shooting up vertically 
to a height of 15 or 20 feet above the level of the 
rest and then falling over with a dull crushing 
sound that gave one a better idea than anything 
else could of their immense weight. 

The " gorge " or " jamb " was occasioned by 
some of these large pieces of ice getting piled in 
such a manner across the river as to form a sort of 
barrier or dam which backed the water up to a 
height of several feet, even above its flood level ; 
but of course the weight of the backed up water 
was such that nothing could resist it long. Accord- 
ingly in about two hours, during which time an 
immense quantity of ice had accumulated, the 
"gorge" broke, and the crushing and grinding 
of the ice as one block leaped over the other and 
fell with fearful force on the rest, together with the 
rushing and roaring of the liberated torrent, made 
a sight which has to be seen to be properly 
appreciated. Of course the whole volume oP the 
river was not stopped or the jamb could not have 

stood it five minutes. 

r2 



84 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

I saw nothing more of great interest while I was 
here, and to fill up time was hard put to it loafing 
and holding the sidewalk down as they say there. 
But in due course the day came round when we 
were to make a start for New Mexico and our work. 
It was night when our crowd left Topeka from the 
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad depot ; 
and for this I was not very sorry, as the whole State 
of Kansas is pretty flat and uninteresting. That 
night we got over a good deal of ground although 
the travelling was pretty slow, for the train has to 
climb all the way from Topeka to the mountains. 
Though Kansas is flat it is not horizontal, but 
one long ascent from east to west. Towards the 
middle of the next day, when a bend in the track 
enabled us to look west, we could just see far to 
the north and south the blue line of the Eocky 
Mountains. At times the condition of the atmo- 
sphere would blear them out altogether, and at 
others they were as sharply defined as the teeth 
of a saw, sometimes of a pale misty blue and again 
of a deep purple which changed to a sombre grey 
that looked almost black. They continually varied 
in colour, but after hours of travel they still 
appeared the same distance ofi" until nightfall hid 
them from view. 

The next morning we were in the " foot hills " 
climbing up steep grades with a slowness Avhich 
would have been monotonous and irritating but 
for the beauty of the scenery. We wound along the 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 85 

sides of precipitous mountains and crossed great 
gulclies on what appeared most slight and airy 
structures, but which wore I suppose quite service- 
able trestle bridges. Then we passed through deep 
cuttings with here and there gaps through which 
could be seen the mountains rising peak beyond 
peak and terrace beyond terrace. Sometimes these 
peaks seemed to fade slowly into the deep blue of 
the sky, and then they again appeared to once more 
bury themselves in a low hanging cloud. This was 
blown aside after awhile to give us a glimpse 
of some snovr-covered heights that looked like 
phantoms and made me rub my eyes to see if 
I had not made a mistake in thinking they were 
mountains at all. 

It was in the afternoon of this day that we passed 
through the Eaton pass and tunnel. The grades 
here are so heavy that special locomotives are kept 
on this division to get the trains over the pass. On 
leaving Trinidad, which is the last division terminus 
before getting to the Raton mountains, they put a 
second large engine on behind the train, and with this 
additional help it crawls up the pass at about a good 
walking pace. In fact there Avere some horses on 
the track, and they would pay no attention to the 
whistle, so the brakesman and conductor got off, and 
running ahead of the train pelted them out of the 
way, and then got on again. Going through the 
cutting which brings down the approach to the 
tunnel, there are large veins of coal in places two 



86 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

or three feet thick, to be seen running through the 
red earth across which the cutting is made. Aft^r 
leavino- the Raton Pass we crossed the Glorietta 
mountains and descended into the Rio Grande 
bottom, as it is called here, but is better described 
as the valley of the Rio Grande, which bisects the 
territory of New Mexico from north to south. It is 
a broad fertile valley all under cultivation, with a 
system of irrigation, the water for which is supplied 
from the Rio Grande, and carried all over the plain 
by innumerable irrigating ditches or xeqiiias. This 
;system of ditches or xequias is kept in order by the 
agricultural part of the population, who turn out at 
certain times of the year and, under the guidance of 
bosses selected for their knowledge and experience 
of the work, make at hat repairs or alterations are 
necessary. 

The population consists chiefly of Mexicans and 
Pueblo Indians, and mixtures of the two. These 
Pueblo Indians, very harmless and industrious, are 
nearly related to the Zuni, or, as most people call 
them about here, the Montezuma Indians. 

The Pueblos, or small walled towns that are 
scattered over this valley, are extremely picturesque, 
and every one of them that I saw had a small 
church built of adobes or bricks baked in the sun. 
These bricks, of which all the native houses are 
built in this part of the country, although they are 
spelt " adobes," I always heard them spoken of as 
•' dobies." 



ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 87 

On tbe evening of tlie day we passed the Eaton 
mountains we arrived at San Marcial, and as tlie 
boarding cars had to be fitted up, the cooking 
appliances put in order, &c., we were sent to an 
hotel, or what they chose to call one, till these 
arrangements were completed, which was not till 
the evening of the following day. 

I was surprised and not very pleased to find out 
that the small-pox was making fearful havoc with 
the country. Whole villages were depopulated in 
some parts of the surrounding district. 

The second day after our arrival the railroad 
doctor came round and vaccinated the whole gang, 
all but two men, who, refusing to submit to the 
operation, were at once discharged. All houses that 
had an inmate sick with the small-pox were draped 
with strips of yellow and black calico : I do not know 
whether they were obliged to do it, or whether it 
was merely a custom of the country. At San Marcial 
there were very few houses that were not decorated 
in this manner. 

But, small-pox or not, we had to get to work, and 
as there was plenty of material on the spot all ready 
for us we made a start at once. 

The job at which I was put first was digging post 
holes, and as the ground was pretty hard in places, 
I found it rather a tough job ; but in a day or two I 
got used to the work, and as the weather was then 
mild without being hot, I could do quite as mucli 
as was expected of me. But soon the heat began 



88 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

to get greater and greater every day, until I was 
as mucli too hot as I had been too cold up in Kansas. 
However, I could put up with that, and would have 
been able to enjoy myself very Avell if it had not 
been for the dust and sand storms which were now 
beginning to be very bad indeed. 

Although we started work at San Maroial, we 
only did a little bit there, and then shifted to a 
place further north called Bernalillo, which was 
our head-quarters for some time. The first Sunday 
we were here, I, in company with some others of 
the gang, made a trip up Sandia or the Melon 
mountain. Though the sun was scorching in the 
valley, after about two hours' climbing we began 
to come to snow and ice in the crevices of the 
rocks, which had not melted since the winter 
before, and at last it began to get so cold that I 
concluded I had gone far enough. 

As we were going back we struck the railroad 
track some two miles south of where we were 
working. Walking along the track we overtook 
an old Indian (a very fine-looking man he was, too), 
who informed us in broken English that he was a 
chief, and that his name was Sandia, the same as 
the mountain we had just come from. He carried 
a fine silver-headed Malacca cane on which was 
engraved " Presented to Sandia by President 
Lincoln," also a date which I forget. The old 
fellow seemed immensely proud of it, and carried it 
stuck through his belt as a Japanese wears a sword. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 89 

I shall always remember the time I spent here, 
as I got an attack of ophthalmia that nearly drove 
me mad. I have suffered pain in various ways, 
but nothing I ever experienced drove me so nearly 
mad as this. The agony was terrible ; for nights 
and days I never slept, but lay on my back with 
wet tea leaves bandaged on my eyes. This was 
the only thing that gave me any relief. I was 
attended by a doctor from Bernalillo, and one day 
when I was at the worst I told him that if he 
could not do something to relieve the pain 1 would 
blow my brains out, and I meant it too. The cook 
heard what I said, and was so convinced I was in 
earnest that she came in and took my revolver away 
from the head of my bunk. However, that afternoon 
the doctor can^e back and injected either morphia or 
cocaine into one of my arms, which operation he 
repeated several times during the next two or three 
days. This gave me some rest, and from this time 
I began to get better, but it was more than two 
weeks before I conld go to work again, and then 
I had to wear blue glasses. For a long time my 
eyes were very weak, and I saw everything double. 
Our work here was enlivened by frequent rows 
with the Mexicans through whosa land the railroad 
passed. These people declared that the railroad 
company had no right to fence in their land 
without giving them some compensation ; and I 
think they had a real grievance, for a piece of land 
twenty yards wide, and sometimes as much as 



90 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

half a mile long, was a considerable slice off a 
small farm. 

However, of course we could not help the action 
of the company, but it was sometimes very hard to 
make these ignorant peasants understand this. I 
did not mind the men so much, although some of 
them were very truculent-looking savages, who, if 
appearances were anything to judge by, wore fit for 
anything desperate. These jokers, when thoy saw 
that they had irritated us to the verge of retaliation, 
would clear out and leave us alone. But the 
women were not to be got rid of so easily. There 
was one place on the job that did not get fenced 
for a long time just on account of three women— 
a mother and two daughters. These were the 
greatest viragoes I ever saw. The first attempt we 
made to get the fence up they turned out and 
ordered us ofi*, and as we did not go they pelted us 
with stones, and as quick as a peg was driven 
in to mark the position of a post hole one of 
them would run up and pull it out. One day 
they were away to town or somewhere, so we 
got all the post holes sunk ; but next morning, 
when wc came on the scene, we found that they 
had filled them all up again during the night. 
The boss then turned all the gang on to the 
job and finished it in one day, and got the wire 
stretched ; after this they left it alone. Passing 
down this way some five or six months after 
I noticed that they had demolished the whole 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 91 

business, not leaving a single post standing on 
their land. 

I was now getting very tired of tliis work, wliich 
became monotonous after the Mexicans came to the 
conclusion that they had better leave us alone. 
So being offered a job to go out to the Moore and 
Casey Rancli on the Rio d'Acoma, I gave Briclcer 
notice and left ; but when I had left it appeared 
that the man who had hired me had no authority 
from Messrs. Moore and Casey to do anything of 
the kind, as they had all the help they wanted. So 
I was once more adrift with next to nothing in my 
pocket, and this time in a wilder country than ever. 

However, there was no help for it. I have no 
doubt that Bricker would have taken me back 
ao-ain if I had asked him, but I would not. We 
were then at a place called Albuquerque, which is 
the largest town in the State of New Mexico. 
It is made up of the old and new towns, the latter 
of which is the American quarter, consisting of some 
stores, hotels, &c., near the railroad depot, while 
the former part is built of adobe, and is inhabited 
by Mexicans and half-bred Indians. That the 
town is pretty advanced as far as modern civilisa- 
tion goes out in the West is evident from the fact that 
they were introducing the telephone into it. I was 
fortunate to get a job at this work, and being a 
sailor the climbing up the posts to fix the wires 
came very easy to me. I gave such satisfaction to 
the boss that he said, when I left after about ten 



92 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

days, " If you are ever round this way again and 
want a job, come to me, for you have picked up 
the working of this thing a deal quicker than any 
man I ever had." 

However, I did not think it likely I should ever 
trouble him for employment again. The town was 
as dull as the work, and climbing posts with climbing 
irons on my feet all day long, and with the bight 
of a wire in one's hands, was not particularly 
attractive to me. Besides, I was terribly restless, 
and never content unless I was going somewhere or 
other. Men were always talking together, saying 
this or the other is a good place to go to ; and 
now most spoke of Colorado. So there I at last 
determined to go. 

When I had settled my board bill and bought a 
new pair of boots I had just 50 cents left, and with 
this small sum I struck out for the mountains. 
Jumping an east bound freight at Albuquerque, I 
managed to hold it down or keep on it till I got to 
a place called Alameda, where I was spotted by an 
avaricious " breaky," and because I would not " put 
up " was put off. Knowing that there wouhi not 
be another train through that night, and not 
wishing to be left there till the next day, I got off, 
walked away, and coming back on the other side of 
the train, I sneaked on to the cow-catcher, where, 
under the glare of the head lights, I was secure 
from observation. In this manner I got up to 
Wallace, which was as far as I wanted to go on 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 93 

this line. Althoiigli I was down enough on brakes- 
men this journey, and hated some of them badly 
enough to commit manslaughter, yet I own to 
thinking all the money they could rake up would 
not compensate them properly for their work ; for 
the occupation of a brakesman on a freight train is 
about one of the hardest, and certainly most 
dangerous, jobs which I know. I have heard people 
talking of the danger of a seafaring life and other 
occupations in connexion with the sea. But no 
business I ever saw is, to my way of thinking, so 
hazardous as that of a brakesman. It is no doubt 
made a great deal worse than it need be by the 
carelessness, not only of the brakesmen themselves, 
but of engine drivers and switchmen, and others 
who work with them ; but whoever it is that makes 
the blunder, the poor devil of a brakesman is in the 
place of danger, and as a general thing gets the 
benefit of it. The fact that no insurance company 
will insure a brakesman's life speaks volumes for the 
dangerous nature of the calling. When I was at 
Emporia, in Kansas, there was a young brakesman 
had his right arm cut ofi" just above the elbow by 
the carelessness or ignorance of the man who was 
driving the yard engine. The brakesman was 
standing by to couple the cars that the yard engine 
was backing down on to the rest of the train ; the 
driver sent them down with such force as to 
telescope the two cars, the brakesman saw what was 
going to happen and made a jump out, but though 



9^ ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

lie escaped with Lis life, lie lost liis arm. I heard 
that the company gave him something, but what it 
was I do not know — little enough for the loss of an 
arm, no doubt, whatever it was. 

Though dangerous enough in itself a brakesman's 
job is rendered doubly bad by circumstances of 
weather. For instance, on a bitterly cold night in 
winter with a thermometer down to 15 or 20 degrees 
below zero and a gale of Avind blowing, thei train 
comes to a steep grade, the engineer whistles for 
brakes. The brakesman then has to go out and walk 
perhaps half the length of a long train on a board 
about 18 inches w^ide, which is covered with snow 
and ice, and so slippery as to make it a most 
difficult thing for him to keep his feet. Add to this 
that the train is in most cases oscillating and 
jumping about on a rough track; and it will be at 
once apparent that the man is in a most perilous 
position, for a fall in siich a case means certain 
death by being cut to pieces under the train. All 
the brake handles are of iron, and it is in frosty 
weather agony to touch them even with heavy 
gloves on. Frequently the brakesmen are mere boys 
of 16 or 17 and upwards who have run away from 
home, this profession standing in the States in 
much the same position as the sea does in England 
as employment for runaways. Many of them are 
frost-bitten every winter, and it is almost impossible 
to pick up a paper without reading of one or more 
cases of frightful accidents to some of the poor 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 95 

fellows. The danger of the calling seems to have a 
sort of charm for the youngsters, for there is never 
any lack of men to fill any job of the kind that 
becomes vacant, even if the remains of the man 
that last occupied it have just been gathered up in 
a wheelbarrow. 



96 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER VI. 

An Up Grade. 

"Wallace was a division terminus, with a round 
house and machine shops. However, there was 
nothing of a town there, and I had to expend 
my last half dollar to get something to eat, for 
that was the regulation price of a meal, and there 
was no store to buy anything at at a cheaper rate. 

There was an old trail crossing the mountains 
from this place to Santa Fe, and as that city lay 
in my way I determined to go there. The road 
was bad, as it had not been used a great deal since 
the railroad was opened, nor indeed, as far as I 
could judge, had it ever been, as it was for most 
of the way merely a bridle path. The track, such 
as it was, disappeared entirely in places, but there 
was no danger of missing the way, as there was 
only the one pass through the mountains, and it 
was impossible to mistake it. What the distance 
really was I do not know, as everybody I ever 
asked about it either did not know or stated it 
variously. The weather was fine, and the mountain 
air cool and bracing ; so I might have enjoyed my 
tramp fairly well if it had not been for the new 



ADRIFT IN AMEIUCA. 



97 



boots I had bought in Albuquerque, which now 
began to hurt my feet dreadfully. The path was 
broken, and strewn with sharp fragments of rock, 
which made it quite impossible to walk without 
boots, or I would have taken them off. After 
travelling I should think four or five miles, the 
road suddenly topped a ridge, and then dipped 
down through a rugged gully into a small sandy 
plain nearly circular in form, and walled all round 
by precipitous hills. It was, by a rough guess, 
about a mile across. I was a bit in doubt as to 
which way to take, but seeing a gully nearly on 
the opposite side I concluded that must be the 
way, and accordingly steered for it. The sand 
being perfectly smooth and hard here, I pulled my 
boots offj and so walked a little easier, but not 
much, for the boots had done their work well, and 
my feet were already skinned in several places. 

As I approached the gully I just mentioned, I 
could see a large stream of water coming down it, 
foaming in miniature cascades over the rocks and 
boulders in its course. This rather surprised me, 
as from the brow of the ridge I had just left I 
could see all over the valley, but I did not notice a 
stream of any kind in any part of it. The mystery 
was explained, however, when I got a bit further 
along ; for although there was a considerable volume 
of water in the stream, it no sooner left its rocky 
bed and struck the sandy plain than it disappeared 
entirely, leaving only a damp smudge on the sand 

p. 1640. (x 



98 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



about 100 yards across, reminding mc, in a small 
way, of what I had heard of the Sink of the 
Humboldt River. As the rocky road commenced 
again at this point 1 washed my feet and put on 
my boots. They now hurt me a great deal more 
than before, and every step I took was painful ; but 
there was nothing for it Ijut to push on, as the 
nearest inhabited place was Santa Fe, or to go 
back again to Wallace. Going back was never 
much in iny line. So, groaning and cursing my 
fate, I stumbled and hobbled along all the rest of 
the day, until late in the evening, after the sun 
was down, I came out on a part of the road where 
I could see the city of Santa Fe some two or three 
miles distant. 

The sight was a very welcome one to me, for 
although I had no money, and not the remotest 
idea of where I was going to earn any, still it was 
comforting to be near some human beings. It is 
true I still had my revolver, on which I could have 
raised some money, but that would only be as a 
last resource. I was utterly fagged out, not by the 
walk, which of itself would have been nothing, but 
by the pain of my feet, which were quite raw and 
bleeding in several places, and hatl been so for 
hours ; and, besides, 1 was weak with hunger, 
having eaten nothing all day. 

Not caring to go any further that night I 
selected a spot as sheltered as I could find, and, 
wrapping myself in my blanket, 1 lay down on the 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 99 

ground, and in spite of hunger and pain I soon 
went to sleep. I had been asleep some time when 
I was awakened by the howling of the coyotes. 
Several of these sneaking beasts were prowling 
roundj some of them being nearly within arm's 
length of nio when I awoke, but when I started 
up and shouted at them they scampered off. It 
was a beautifully clear night, without a breath of 
wind stirring, and a full moon high in the heavens 
made it almost as light as day. The dark shadows 
cast by the cactus bushes and clumps of pinon, 
amongst which every once in a while could be seen 
a sneaking coyote trailing his long bushy tail in 
the sand, gave the landscape quite an eerie appear- 
ance. Having driven these unwelcome intruders 
away I rested undisturbed till the sun awakened 
me in the morning. 

I now had to make a start for the city. Getting 
up, I put on my boots, but the pain was most 
unbearable. During the night the wounds had 
partially healed, but bringing them again into 
contact with the hard leather of my boots rubbed 
off the partially -formed new skin, and occasioned 
me the most exquisite agony. After two or three 
attempts and some excusable profanity, I at last 
started. After going some little distance, I came 
to a coral, where some Mexican teamsters were 
feeding their bullocks with cactus boughs, from 
which they were burning the prickles on a large 
fire they had there for the purpose. The cattle 



100 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

were evidently quite used to this rougli kind of 
fodder, and ate it eagerly ; wlietlier they ever got 
anything else I could not say, but they appealed 
to be strong and well-fed beasts. It was about 
eight o'clock in the morning when I arrived in 
Santa Fe, and as I had had nothing to ent since 
the previous morning, the first thing that struck 
me was to look for some breakfast. With this 
idea in my mind, I entered the town, and began to 
look about to see if there was anything in the 
shape of work going on, but could see nothing ; in 
fact, the place seemed to be asleep. Two-thirds of 
the population, as far as I could judge, consisted 
of Mexicans, and the only industry that appeared 
to be going ahead was carrying loads of firewood 
packed on the back of a small kind of ass, called 
here " burro." The streets were crowded with 
these animals, whose load in some cases was nearly 
as big as the beast which was carrying it. I" was 
told that in the mountains where the wood is cut, 
that the " burros " are made to lie down, their load 
being then placed on their back. One man then 
takes hold by their nose, and another the tail, and 
they are hoisted on to their feet. If on any 
occasion they happen to fall, the same operation 
has to be repeated. They are, no doubt, hardy 
animals, and carry a very large load for their 
size. 

Seeing no chance of getting any work of an 
ordinary kind, I went up to a house where I saw 



ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 1^1 

a large stack of uncliopped firewood, and knocking 
at tlie door, I asked to be allowed to chop some for 
my breakfast. The boss said, " Well, I keep a man 
on monthly wages to do that kind of work, but you 
may go ahead and chop some, and I will give you 
something to eat." I accordingly took the axe and 
went to work. I had not been at it more than 
10 minutes or so, when the boss went out. As 
soon as he was away a fine strapping young 
negress came out of the house, and looking at me, 
she exclaimed, " Lord sakes ! the poor boy looks as 
if he was dying. Put that axe right down, and 
come in and have something to eat." It may be 
imagined that I was not slow to do as she bade me. 
She filled me a large basin of water, and giving me 
a towel, told me to wash my face and hands. I 
think this wash did quite as much to restore me as 
the good breakfast which I afterwards got. While 
I was discussing this meal a very pretty and 
lady-like woman came into the kitchen (she was 
the boss's wife), and put me through a series of 
questions as to my nationality, my paternity, 
religion, and business out in that part of the 
world, winding up her interrogations by asking 
me if I was not very glad to have got away from 
the power of Queen V^ictoria. She seemed to be 
incredulous when I informed her that our Queen 
was not the merciless and powerful tyrant she 
seemed to suppose, and that, Avith some exceptions, 
the English people did not at all dislike her. 



1^2 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

After finishing my l)reakfast I returned to my 
job at the wood pile, at which I continued till the 
boss came home to dinner. He then told me to 
knock off, and he would take me down to his store 
in the city, where he had a pile of wood he wished 
chopped up. After dinner, which I had at this 
house, I went with my new employer down to his 
store, where I worked for the rest of the day. 
After finishing at night, he gave me my supper 
and a dollar for the work I had done, and showing 
me a boarding-house, where, he said, T could get a 
bed for 50 cents, he told me to come to the store 
at seven o'clock next morning, and he would give 
me work for a day or two. He said I was not to 
buy any breakfast in the morning, as I could have 
some at the store. 

Being now possessed of a dollar, and having 
eaten three good meals in one day, I was pretty 
spry, in spite of my sore feet, which still gave me 
a good deal of pain. I did not like the idea of 
squandering half of my newly-acquired wealth on 
such a luxury as a bed, but not being able to find 
any suitable camping-place out of doors, I finally 
decided to invest a quarter in one. I selected a 
place, which certainly was a low-down looking 
shanty enough, but was the only place where I 
could stay for so small a sum as 25 cents. This 
house, I afterwards found out, was about the 
rowdiest shop in the town ; indeed I had proof 
enough of it that night, for I had not been turned 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 103 

in long, when a man, wlio went by the name of 
Cheyenne Charlie, opened the ball by committing 
an assanlt on the proprietor of the honse, who 
rejoiced in the name of Pistol Johnny, which he 
had acquired by his proficiency in the use of that 
weapon, and his readiness to nso it on the least 
provocation. On the present occasion his wife 
prevented l)loodshed by concealing his revolvers ; 
if she had not done so, there would in all 
probability have been at least one funeral the next 
day. After Cheyenne Charley had been ejected 
from the premises, our friend Pistol Johnny turned 
himself loose on his wife (who, by the way, was the 
ngliest woman I ever saw) for hiding his weapons. 
After soothing his ruffled feelings by abusing her 
in the vilest terms the English language could 
supply for the occasion, he armed himself with 
a double-barrelled shot-gun, and sallied out in 
pursuit of his enemy ; but the city marshal having 
by this time heard of the row, he was arrested and 
locked up before he had got the length of a block. 
His wife went up to the city hall, or wherever it 
was that he was locked up, and, on his promising 
to behave himself, he was allowed out on bail. For 
this good office his poor wife received a hiding, 
after which she relieved the monotony of things by 
keeping up a lugubrious howl for the rest of the 
night, while her amiable husband drank himself 
into a state of imbecility, in which condition he 
went to sleep under the table. 



i04 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

When I went to the store in the mornmg, I was 
put to various odd jobs about the place, shiftiug 
packages and opening them, and stowing away the 
various contents in their several places and pigeon 
holes. At this kind of work I was kept for the 
remainder of the time I was here, which was 
altogether five days. On the evening of the fifth 
day the boss called me and said he would not 
require me any more as he had no further work for 
me to do. Not having spent anything but a quarter 
a night for my bed at Pistol Johnny's, I had three 
dollars and seventy-five cents saved, and felt quite 
a small capitalist on the strength of it. 

As I wished to get into Colorado, my road lay 
north. So striking the trail next morning I started 
for Espanola, which was the first town, or rather 
village, for it was nothing more, that lay in my 
road. Knowing that I should not be able to make 
the whole distance, which was 26 miles, in one day, 
I laid out half a dollar in some cheese and bread. 
I may as well explain here that the distance between 
Santa F6 and Espanola is not covered by a railway 
line because there is some clause in the charter of 
either the Denver and Rio Grande, or the Atchison, 
Topeka, and Santa Fe railroads, which forbids the 
junction of those two roads for a period of years ; 
it may be joined now but was not at the time I am 
writing about. 

I made about half the distance (13 miles) on this 
day, determining not to overdo the thing, as my 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 105 

feet were not yet quite well, after the skinning tliey 
had got coming over the trail from AYallace. I 
camped that night in a dry gully, and the coyotes 
howled dismally, and kept me awake for some time, 
as they had done in the Santa Fe trail. 

I was up as soon as the sun in the morning, and 
after a feed of bread and cheese and a drink of 
water, some of which I found in a crevice of the 
rocks, I started again, and this day completed my 
journey early in the afternoon. When [ arrived at 
Espanola I made inquiries about trains, though not 
with any intention of paying my fare, as that was 
not possible, and found that there were only two a 
week running on this linCj which is a branch of the 
Denver and Rio Grande, and joins the main line at 
a place called Anginita. The distance from Espa- 
nola to this place is 92 miles, the first 50 to the 
north being all up hill and very fatiguing. I walked 
the whole distance, and it took me just five days. 
I renewed my stock of provender at a place called 
Tres Piedres, where there is a way station, and the 
depot agent keeps a small store. I had made 
inquiries in Espanola as to the water, and was told 
that it was scarce and at long intervals, so I supplied 
myself with an old canteen which I bought from a 
Mexican shepherd for 15 cents. I found it a most 
useful possession ; in fact I should have been in a hard 
corner without it, as for the last two days' journey 
there was absolutely no water to be found along 
my road. Though I tried for work at every section 



ion 



ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 



house, I conld obtain none ; but I heard most 
encouraging accounts of work in saw mills and at 
the mines further north. 

Wlien I arrived in Anginita, I was at an altitude 
of about 7,000 feet above sea level ; the weather 
was very cold at nights, for it was earlj^ summer 
as yet, and the summers arc always behind in the 
mountains. There were several sharp frosts, 
although the month was June. 

This being the case, I was anxious to obtain some 
employment, so that I should have some place to 
stay in, for it was too cold to sleep out with any 
degree of comfort. 

The section boss at Anginita told me that men 
were wanted out at a place called Del Norte, some 
few miles west of here, so seeing nothing going on 
in the country that I could take a hand at, I went 
there, was hired at once, and again became a 
section hand. The wages here were a dollar and a 
half a day ; we had to pay four dollars fifty cents for 
board. I worked at this place for the next two months 
and a half. Nothing of any interest happened here, 
but a short distance away, near a place called 
G-arland, there was a murder. That would have 
been nothing of itself, as murders are quite 
common in Colorado ; but this particular case was of 
particular interest owing to the fact that the victim, 
a Mexican farmer, was much liked by all who knew 
him. It appeared that his wife had seen some man 
whom she liked better than she did her husband. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 107 

and tlio two of tlicm made up tlieir minds to re- 
move him. Accordingly one day, when he was 
liitching lip his team, tliis strange man shot him 
with a Colt's revolver, inflicting two Avounds, one 
through each lung. However, though mortally 
wounded, he had strength enough left to draw his 
weapon and inflict a wound on his assailant that 
necessited the amputation of his right forearm. 
The farmer lived, I believe, for 48 hours ; how- 
ever he lived long enough to make it only murder 
in the second degree, for which reason they did not 
hang the murderer, but only gave him six years in 
the penitentiary at Oaiion City. This penitentiary 
is said to be the most severe in the United States, 
and a man here told me that to get a term of six or 
seven years at it was in reality worse than being 
hanged, as no ordinary man could possibly survive 
it. " For," said he, "if a man has the constitution 
of a steer, or of a grizzly bear, the kind of work 
they put him to there at all seasons of the year will 
break it down in a very short time." 

This being the case, perhaps the punishment was 
severe enough for the crime. And to tell the truth, 
so far as I have heard, the penitentiaries, or some of 
them, in the United States are harder than any in 
the world. I have often spoken to tramps who had 
been in the houses of correction, and they were 
horribly afraid of getting there again. Often they 
will go round a circuit of many miles to escape 
even the slightest chance of getting put on the 



108 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

" rock-pile " as they call it. Policemen, too, in 
America are very severe and even brutal in 
the wny they treat men ; and some of the laws 
in this free country are such as would make 
Enoflishmen think of a new revolution. 1 found 
this out afterwards for myself. The woman who 
was in this case came in for a sentence of two 
years' imprisonment on account of her share in this 
transaction. 

While I was at this place I took it into my head 
to go down to Denver, and I stayed there for a day 
or two. It is a fine city with tramcars, theatres, 
electric lights, and so on, and is situated in a 
great basin of the mountains. My object in going- 
there was to see if there was any probability of 
obtaining any work of a less rough or more lucra- 
tive nature than that at which I was engagetl, but 
seeing no likelihood of getting any I returned to 
my job on the section, where I stayed for another 
month. About this time I became acquainted with 
a man who went by the name of Bunk Redman, a 
Missourian, and he suggested that I and he should 
go out on the Silverton branch to a place called 
Durango, where he had been before and where, 
according to his account, there was plenty of work 
and good wages. Not liking my present occupation, 
and being ready by this time for a change, I agreed 
to go. I sold my time for a dollar less than it 
was worth to one of the men in the gang and 
we started out. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 109 

On this journey I saw the celebrated Toltec 
gorge ; I will not attempt to describe it for I could 
not, it is a thing that must be seen to be under- 
stood. This much I will say, and that is, that far 
as I have travelled — and I have travelled a great 
deal even for this age of quick transit — I never saw 
it surpassed for rugged grandeur. 

Arriving at Durango we did not find things quite 
as glorious as we had anticipated. There certainly 
was work, but the wages were not very high. 
Bunk soon procured a job to drive a six-mule team 
for which he got sixtv dollars a month, but I had 
to look further, not being up to taking that kind of 
work. After doing nothing for two days, I at last 
decided to go to work at the coke ovens : here we 
worked in eight hour shifts and got $2. 50 c. a shift. 
Every one on this job boarded where he liked best, 
there being no boarding establishment attached to 
the place. I worked here for about two weeks and 
then left, owing to a dispute I had one clay with the 
boss. I obtained work the same day in a planing 
mill at the same wages. I continued at this job 
most of the rest of the time I remained in Durang'o. 

During this time some of my chums in Durango 
organised a hunting expedition, as there was not 
much to do in town and most of us had been 
working all the summer and had a few dollars by 
us. I was invited to join in and go out with them 
for a few days, of course bearing my share of the 
expenses and sharing in the profits if there were 



110 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

any. A couple of pack-mules were hired to carry 
our baggage and provisions. I was totally unac- 
quainted witli the country about here, and was in 
consequence entirely in the hands of the others of 
the party, who all knew something about it. There 
were three besides myself, all young men, and 
we made a rather jolly party, as the expedition 
was as much one of pleasure as business, and 
wo travelled by easy stages, always selecting as 
comfortable camping places as could be found. 

On the afternoon of the third day we were 
camped on the sloping side of a mountain in such 
a position as to have a clear view down a wide 
valley which was tolerably clear of scrub. All at 
once one of the boys, by name Hoskins, said there 
were some deer in the valley below us. I looked in 
the direction pointed out, and saw some animals, 
but could not be certain that they were deer, as 
the distance was at least 1,000 yards, and they 
were standing amongst some light scrub. I told 
Hoskins I was by no means sure that tbey were 
deer. He only laughed at me, and said that as I had 
not been in the mountains any time, it was not to 
be expected I could know anything about the 
matter — the justice of which remark I was quite 
ready to acknowledge. " Any way, here goes for a 
shot at them !" said he, as he took his rifle, and got 
down comfortably in the back position as if he was 
at target practice, for he had been in the American 
army and had qualified as a sharpshooter. Bang 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. HI 

went tlie first shot, but nothing stirred ; he adjusted 
his sights and fired again, when I saw one of them 
go down. The other two fellows were standing by 
and they now urged Hoskins on, saying " Shove in 
another cartridge, man ! don't move ! You have 
got the range now and you can get another." He 
let fly again, with the result that another one came 
down, but still no movement was perceptible 
amongst the rest of the herd. Hoskins now sat up 
with rather a grave look on his face, and said, 
" Look here, boys, there is something wrong in this, 
deer do not stand up in a bunch to be shot down 
that way, I think it would l)e as well to investigate 
this matter before going any further." Accordingly 
we all went down to see the game, and were not a 
little disgusted to find two burros (as they call the 
Mexican donkey) lying dead, and three more 
standing round and appearing to be in no way 
concerned in what was going on. Hoskins and Co. 
looked pretty foolish about this, but I refrained 
from saying, " I told you so," which under the 
circumstances was, I think, rather to my credit. We 
stayed out for about two weeks altogether, during 
which time I had my first shot at a big cinnamon 
bear, and if it had not been for the assistance I got 
from the otiiers I should in all likelihood have 
fallen a prey to the savage beast, for I was not up 
to the business and fired at him when he had the 
rising ground and a clear run right to where I 
stood. Tliis would not have mattered much if I had 



112 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



given liim a bad wouiul first shot, but I had only 
cut the hide on his shoulder and hurt him just 
cnong'h to make him properly savage. I had no 
idea till now that a bear could travel so fast, but 
this one was all of 300 yards from me when I fired, 
and before I could say " knife '' ho was within about 
50 yards, and coming sti'aight for me with his 
mouth open and eyes glaring with rage. I stood 
there quite stupefied, as the cartridge I had just 
fired had stuck in my rifle, and jerk as I would 
on the lever, I could not move it. This mishap 
would most certainly have cost me my life if it had 
not happened that Hoskins was in sight all the time, 
and had seen the thing from the start, and now, 
with one of the others, came to my assistance 
with a couple of well-directed shots from behind 
me, which laid Bruin out just in his hour of 
triumph. The accident to my rifle was a trifling 
one in ordinary circumstances, but with such a 
dano-erous customer as a wounded cinnamon bear to 
deal with, it would, without the timely assistance 
I got from my companions, have proved fatal 
to me. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



113 



CHAPTER VII. 

From the Land of Snow. 

It was towardrf the middle of December tliat my 
partner, Bunk Redman, came in from the country 
wliere he had been working, haulir.g log>s to a 
sawmill with a six-mule team, but as the mill was 
now shut down on account of the severity of the 
weather he was out of a job. Some little time 
before this I had received a letter from my brother 
Morley, in which he informed me that he was 
coming out to Texas in a short time. As the mill 
I was working at was then about to shut down, I 
made up my mind to go down to Texas and see if 
I could locate myself somewhere so that I could 
write and let my brother know where ho would 
find me. Speaking one day to Bunk on this 
subject, he said, ''if we intend to get out of here 
this winter we want to make a start as soon as 
possible, or we shall likely enough be snowed in, 
as this branch of the road is often snowed up 
entirely for months at a time ; and although there 
is not much snow just here the mountain passes must 
be pretty bad even now." " If that is the case," 
said Ij " I am going by to night's train, for I have 

p. 1G40. H 



IH ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

no particular wisli to stay lioro sucking my thumbs 
for three months." To this Bunk agreed at once, 
as he had made a pretty good stake, and v^anted 
to go east for the winter. 

The train left Durango just before midnight, and 
as there happened to bo no one but ourselves in 
the carriage we managed to make ourselves very 
comfortable, and slept till morning. There had 
been very little snow on the ground at Durango, 
but now everything was covered feet deep with it 
and we were making slow and laborious progress 
up the divide. There was a snow plough with two 
engines to it " bucking the snow " (as the expression 
goes here) in front of us, and we followed in her 
■wake with another plough, of course on the engine 
that was drawing the train. There had been a 
o-ans; of 50 snow shovellers on the train when we 
left, or they had been picked up somewhere while 
I was asleep. These men wei'e employed cutting 
the snow drifts down at each side of the track to 
give the snow plough a chance to breali up the 
masses of it that were piled on the track, and throw 
it to either side. This gang was increased at every 
place we came to, for v/herever the train men could 
pick up a " bum " they did so and gave him a 
shovel, so that by the time we passed " Chama," 
which is nearly on the top of the Conejos divide 
(where we passed the west-bound train), we had in 
all three locomotives, two snow ploughs, and a gang 
of 75 snow shovellers to help us along ; and yet for 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. Ho 

some liours it seemed to me, and indeed I think to 
everj^ono else, that it was doubtful if we should 
succeed in getting through. However, Ave did 
manage it, and when we began to descend the 
other side of the range, the snow, both that which 
was falling and that which had accumulated on the 
ground, decreased at every mile, till the track was 
once more comparatively clear. Henceforward, fair 
progress was made for the last part of the journey, 
which ended for me at Anglneta, where the 
Espanola branch joined the road. This was my 
way, for I was going down through New Mexico. 

Here I parted with Bunk Redman, and have 
never seen him since. I found to my disgust, on 
making inquiries, that one of the two weekly trains 
that ran on this branch had gone that afternoon, 
and there were three days to wait for the next. 
I at once made up my mind to walk (the distance, 
as I mentioned before, was 92 miles) ; but it being 
now late in the afternoon it was no use starting; 
that night. 

Going to the solitary boarding-house I asked 
what would be the charge for supper, bed, and 
breakfast, and was coolly informed that it would be 
1^3. I argued and expostulated with the boss, but 
to no purpose ; he knew that he had me foul, as 
they say in fighting, and would nob come back a 
cent, so I was perforce obliged to pay it. At this 
piece of barefaced robbery, for it was nothing else, 
I was very mad, but could not help myself. Next 

H2 



116 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

morning after breakfast, which consisted of rusty 
pork and black beans with some doughy bread and 
stinking butter and coffee like muddy water, I 
started out on my Avalk. There was no need to 
carry water as there was plenty of snow on the 
ground, but determining not to be victimised any 
more by a thief of a boarding-house keeper, I took 
no food with me, determining to get some at Tres 
Piedres if I could not manage to procure some at 
any of the section-houses on the road. I had to 
walk along the railroad track, as that was the only 
road as far as I knew, and in any case it would be 
the neai'est. 

There was just snow enough on the ground to 
make it very bad walking indeed ; the ties were 
covered so that I could not see properly which 
place to step on. The consequence of this was that 
I soon began to miss my footing and fall. This 
kind of thing went on all day, till late in the 
afternoon I came to the first section-house and 
asked to be allowed to stay there that night, 
ofiering to pay for what they gave me. But the 
only person who was in the house was a vinegary- 
looking woman, who told me that I could not stay ; 
she also resolutely refused to give or sell me the 
smallest scrap of food, and telling me there was 
another house nine miles further on, she banged the 
door in my face and I heard her .securing it on the 
inside. When a man has been travelling over a 
bad road all day with nothing to eat, it is rather 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 117 

Lard lines lo be turned away from shelter and 
coolly told to go nine miles more, with the 
possible prospect of being treated the same way 
when he gets there. However, there was no help 
for it, so I made another start, cursing every thing 
on earth, but particularly the inhospitable beast of 
a woman who was the cause of my trouble. It 
was now getting dark, and to make things still 
more unpleasant, the snow began to fall in big soft 
flakes, and soon there was as heavy a snowstorm as 
I ever saw. I could not see my hand in front of 
my face, and the snow being soft, was as bad as 
rain. Not being able to see, I of course made very 
poor progress, and, many times missing my footing, 
I rolled right down the bank into the ditch, which 
was filled with slushy snow and in some places with 
water. The consequence of this was that I was 
soon wet through and bruised from head to foot 
from my falls amongst the rocks. Tired and 
aching in every limb, and wet through, I stumbled 
along, looking for anything in the shape of a light 
that should guide me to the house I was expecting 
to see. At last, when I was beginning to think I 
must have passed it, I saw a faint glimmer of light, 
and going up to it, I found that it was the other 
section-house. 

Now, remembering the reception I had received 
at the last place, I resolved I would either get what 
I wanted here or I would inaugurate a funeral 
either for myself or somebody else ; 1 did not care 



118 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

inucli which. So unbuttoning my coat I pulled my 
six-shooter round handy orer my right hip and 
knocked at the door. But my warlike preparations 
were needless, as my reception here was a good as it 
had been bad at the other place. It was half-past 
eleven when I arrived, and it must have been about 
four o'clock when I was turned away from the last 
place, so it had taken me seven hours and a half to 
walk nine miles ; this alone should give some idea of 
the sort of a time I had been having. 

The man who opened the door to me was the 
section boss, and a very good fellow indeed he 
turned out to be. " Come in," said he, *' you look 
as if you had been having an interesting time; how 
far have you travelled to-day ? " He then threw 
some more wood in the stove, and telling me to take 
all my clothes off, he went out of the room, saying 
he would go and hunt me up some of his to put on 
till my own were dry. 

When he came back with the clothes he remarked 
that the old woman {i.e. his wife) was in bed, but 
he would get me something to eat, which he did. 
While I was eating what he gave me he went out 
and bringing in an armful of blankets told me to 
make up a bed by the stove and turn in when I was 
ready. 

In the morning I put on my own clothes again, 
which were now dry. After breakfast I pulled out 
my pocket-book and asked what I owed, but the 
boss would take nothing, saying that he was glad 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 119 

to be able to do a man a good turn now and then. 
I told liim of the kind reception I ha<l. got at the 
other house, at which, he said, *' Oh ! I know lier 
well enough, she ought to be kicked all round 
the house every twenty minutes and get double 
allowance on Sundays and public holidays." This 
treatment would bave been I think rather too- 
severe even for her offence, though if it had been 
in my power to inflict it on her the previous night 
I should most certainly have done so. 

There had been a sharp frost that morning, and 
though much colder it was on the whole a great 
deal better travelling than it had been the previous 
day ; the snowstorm had ceased and the sky w^as 
most beautifully clear. The whole landscape was 
covered with snow as far as the eye could reach,, 
and the ragged lines of snow-covered mountain 
peaks which bounded the view on either hand and 
rose up behind me, looked as if they might have 
been painted on a background of pale blue sky.^ 
By pushing on as fast as the nature of the travel- 
ling would permit I had no doubt of being able to 
make Tres Piedres before night. This I did, and 
even earlier than I had hoped to. 

At some time or other this place was a mining 
camp, but whatever had brought it into existence 
had either been worked out or found not profitable 
enough to go on working, for it was now deserted. 
This was good luck for me, as it had again begun 
to snow so heavily that I determined to camp till 



120 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

it either cleared off or the train came along. The 
train would be due on the afternoon of the next 
day, and if the weather did not improve in the 
meantime I meant to go by it. The first thing I 
did was to go over to the deserted mining camp 
and pick out the best house there to camp in. I 
selected one that had a mud chimney and fireplace. 
There was a good roof on it, and although the door 
and window had been removed there was no great 
amount of snow in it, owing to the fact that they 
were both on the lee side of the house. After 
deciding on staying here, I went round some of the 
other houses and getting what loose wood I could 
find I made a fire, and hanging my blanket over 
the window I had a good warm. Having now fixed 
up my camp, as far as the means at my disposal 
would permit, I went over to the depot and saw the 
agent, from whom I bought some bread and a piece 
of beef. Returning to my camp I cut a bit of beef 
and roasted it on the hot coals and made a good 
meal, which I washed down with a drink of melted 
snow. It was now drawing on towards evening, 
and just as I was thinking of turning in three 
waggons and a buggy came up to the place with 
five or six Mexican men and three women. They 
seemed to expect to find an inhabited town, but as 
none of them spoke English I could not find out 
what they wanted. I took them to be a Mexican 
family moving with their household goods to some 
other part of the country. 



ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 



121 



The women seemed to be a mother and her two 
daughters. One thing about the outfit struck me 
as peculiar, and that was that as far as I could see 
none of the men were armed, nor did I see them 
take any arms from the waggons. I noticed that 
they eyed me rather suspiciously, more especially 
the women, and I certainly looked a rough enough 
character. I was dressed in a complete suit of 
California ducks, rather the worse for wear, with 
cowhide boots to my knees, and a broad-brimmed 
felt hat, while round my waist I wore a leather 
cartridge belt full of ammunition, in which I carried 
a good serviceable Colt's revolver ; add to this that 
my hair was long and ragged, that I had not shaved 
for about three weeks, nor washed my face for the 
last four days, and I have no doubt that my appear- 
ance was not reassuring. However, as these people 
had come to my camp, I felt in a manner bound to 
be hospitable as far as my means went, which I need 
not say was not far. I did what I could to reassure 
them and make them understand that 1 was not a 
road agent or desperado, which I was beginning to 
think they took me for. I assisted the men to 
unhitch their horses after I had piled more wood on 
the fire, and indicated to the ladies to take up their 
quarters in the corner that I had intended to sleep 
in myself ; for this piece of civility they did not 
appear to be duly thankful. Then I showed the 
men where there was a house that would make a 
good stable. After that I could do no more but 



1-2 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

show tliem that there was a store at the depot 
where they could procure anything they happened 
to need. However, they had a good camping outfit 
with them and soon made themselves as comfortable 
as they could. One of the men went over to the store 
to get something, and when he came back he said 
something to the others, and at once they seemed 
to regard me in a more favourable light. Oiie of 
the girls, who by the way was very prett}^ came 
over to where I was sitting and gave me a cup of 
coffee, some of which they had just been brewing. 
Shortly after the depot agent came over and 
explained the mystery. It appeared that he could 
talk Spanish, and that the man who went over to 
the store had asked him who I was, expressing at 
the same time his conviction that I was not a 
character to be trusted ; but on the agent telling 
him that he knew me, and that I was merely a 
harmless traveller going about my own business, he 
became reassured, and coming over communicated 
the good news to the rest, w^hich accounted for 
their altered manner to me. 



ADRIFT IN AMEllICA. 123 



CHAPTER Ylll. 

Hitting the Road. 

It was still snowing pretty hard when I w^oke up 
in the early morning and looked out. But in spite 
oi: this, and the w^ant of any indications that the 
■weather would clear up, the Mexicans harnessed 
their team and pulled out of camp. 

This was neither the first nor last time that 1 
met Mexicans, and sometimes I vfas not very glad 
of their company, for they do not bear the very best 
character for honesty, and most Western Americans 
believe they will cut a man's throat for half a dollar, 
if they suspect him of having as much about him ; 
but if they think any one is very poor they are often 
good to him, and will give him food and shelter. 
As a general rule they are very easy-going, not 
fond of too much work, but good tempered if they 
are not interfered with. Though a few of them are 
desperadoes, yet, as I have said, this party at Tres 
Piedres seemed a deal more afraid of me than I was 
of them. 

As the weather was still so bad I made up my 
mind to stay where I was until the train came 



124 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

along. I had nothing to do and could sleep no 
more, so I went over to the house and had a yarn 
with the depot agent, who told me a rather good 
story about a man who had been a sailor who 
undertook to drive a bullock cart. It appears he 
knew nothing about bullocks, so when he came to 
the hill down which he had to go to get to the 
house, he climbed on his load instead of putting 
the brake on. The heavy weight made the bullocks 
run, and they finally capsized the cart at the 
bottom, sending him flying. The two women ran 
out and found him lying there knocked rather 
stupid. " Run, run " said one to the other, " per- 
haps he isn't killed ; bring the brandy and a spoon." 
This roused the patient and in a tone of great 
contempt he murmured " Spoon, spoon ? Oh, hang 
it ! bring a cup." 

So between yarning with this agent and smoking 
and chewing over his hot stove, I put in a good 
spell of time. When I left him I wandered round 
the deserted huts and old ruins of the mining camp, 
which was now so quiet. 

It was well on in the afterooon when the train 
I was waiting for arrived. When I got away it was 
snowing. The fare which I paid was, I believe, 
four dollars, and this expenditure brought me down 
rather low in pocket. Still I expected to be able to 
beat my way when I got down on the Atchisin, 
Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad, where trains were 
more plentiful, and the conductors and brakesmen 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 125 

less likely to have nothing to do but hunt for clead- 
beats and put them off. 

As we were now leaving the higher country the 
grade was downhill all the way, and consequently the 
snow soon fell as rain when we left the hills where 
it was still lying. This part of the country was 
very tliinly populated ; towns there were none, and 
consequently we made good time through not 
having to stop. We reached Espanola about mid- 
night. I was the only passenger on the train. 
For some time before our arrival I had seen clusters 
of small fires dotting the mountain sides in all 
directions, but was at a loss to make out what they 
were. On arriving at Espaiiola I noticed that every 
house in the place had a little fire in front of the 
door. On inquiring what this meant I was told 
that it was a custom of the Mexicans to keep a fire 
burning in front of their house all Christmas Eve. 
So it was Christmas Eve and I never knew it. 

There was no snow here, but in spite of that it 
was very cold ; so after getting some supper, for 
which I had to pay fifty cents, I was obliged to 
fork out fifty more for a bed. Thus my stock 
of money was reduced by a dollar. The stage that 
ran between this place and Santa Fe started at nine 
next morning, but as the fare was six dollars I did 
not see my way clear to going by it, till the driver 
who heard me making the inquiries called me on 
one side, and said, " Old man, I do not like to see a 
man in a fix, so if you will walk out on the road 



12G ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

a mile or so I will pick 3^011 up if you choose to put 
lip a couple of dollars, and you cau get off just 
before we arrive in Santa Fe." Judging* it best to 
get over this part of the road as quickly as possible, 
I closed with his offer, and rode instead of walking. 
We had a spanking team of four horses, so that wo 
made good time in spite of the roughness of the 
road, and half-way we stopped at a ranch and 
charged horses. The air was mild and yet bracing. 
The mountain scenery in places was very fine, and 
I enjoyed the drive immensely. This was altogether 
better travelling than the way I came up in the 
spring. 

This was Christmas Day, and taking everything 
into account it was not the worst I ever spent. I 
thought I would like to go to my old employer 
at the store, but it being Christmas Day the store 
was shut up, and I did not consider that I 
presented a good enough appearance to go up to 
his private house. So I went and paid my friend 
Pistol Johnny a visit, but finding him very drunk 
and apparently quarrelsome I did not speak to 
him. But his wife recognised me, and asked 
how I was, which was as far as her politeness 
went. 

The train for Lamy Junction did not start till 
eight o'clock that night, so I had an hour or two on 
my hands, and did not know very well how to put 
it in. I strolled about the town and went into 
several gambling saloons and watched the play, 



ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 127 

wliicli was cliiefly faro and Spanish raonte, tliougli 
a few poker games were being well patronised. 
There was also a wheel of fortune for those who 
did not possess any skill at the other games. At 
last the time came to go down to the depot, and I 
was very glad of it, for I was tired of loafing about 
the town. I had to shell out another dollar for the 
journe}'- down to Lamy. For this I was sorry, but 
there was no help for it, as the trains are watched 
so closely here that there is no chance to beat them. 
At Lamy the people at the hotel gave me supper 
and accommodated me with sleeping room on the 
floor, for which they charged me nothing as it was 
Christmas, and they were having a good time. 
They bad a Christmas tree here, and the mistress 
of the house gave me a gingerbread cow, for she 
said that as it was Christmas every one in her 
house must have a present of some kind. Next 
morning I counted up what money I had, and 
found it only came to five dollars, and I had set 
my mind on going as far at least as Big Springs, 
Texas. This was very little money to go that 
distance on. As I was waiting about for a train 
to come along a man came up to me and asked if I 
wanted to sell my revolver. I did not like to do it, 
but get to Big Springs I must somehow or other, 
and for this I required a little money ; so I sold him 
the revolver, scabbard, and belt for twelve dollars ; 
this was about half what it was worthy but he 
would give no more. 



128 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



Shortly after this a train came along, and not 
being able to get into a car, I jumped up between 
two of them and rode on the draw heads as far as 
Wallace, which was the end of that division. I 
got cfF without being observed, but when she 
pulled out again I was spotted and could not get 
away. I waited here some time till a coal train 
came into the depot. I jumped it, and got as far 
as Algodones, but just before arriving at this place 
the conductor and head brakesman spotted me, and 
coming out of the caboose they pelted me with 
lumps of coal, but did not hit me. However, when 
we pulled up at the station I got off, not caring to 
furnish a target for the train-men to fire lumps of 
coal at. Here I jumped another train, and got 
'* bounced " at Bernalillo. This was not making 
good progress^ but I determined that if I got 
bounced twenty times a day I would not put up a 
cent to a breaky again. I could not manage to get 
aAvay from here this day, and at night I slept in an 
empty box-car that was standing on a siding. The 
next morning I was more fortunate, for while a 
freight train was switched off here waiting for 
the mail to pass the train-men were regaling 
themselves in a beer saloon, and taking advantage 
of their absence I opened the tool box under the 
caboose, and finding there was room for me I got 
in, getting a half-breed Indian that was loafing 
about there to shut-to the door. For this I gave 
him a piece of tobacco. I managed to get as far 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



129 



as Albuquerque this time, and should have got 
down to San Marcial, which is the end of that 
division, but the train-men wanted some tools for 
something or other, and when they came for them 
of course I was found and invited to come out. 
After that I tried two or three freights here, but 
with no success. So when the west- bound passenger 
came through that night I jumped on the cow- 
catcher, and was fortunate enough to get as far as 
Socorro, and should have been able to go a good way 
further only it was so cold in my exposed position 
that I got off and began to look about for some 
place to camp. I found the smouldering remains 
of a camp fire in a dry ditch which was fairly well 
sheltered ; so throwing the embers together, I 
fanned it into a blaze with my hat, and collecting 
a few pieces of wood and coal I found lying about, 
I rolled myself in my blanket and went to sleep. 

Next morning when I woke I went up to the 
town, which lay some little distance from the 
railroad. Here I found out that there was a 
railroad just going to be commenced out to the 
Socorro mines, which are situated in the Magdalena 
mountains, a few miles to the westward of the 
town of Socorro. The consequence of this was that 
the town was full of all the bums in the country, 
who said that they were waiting for the w^ork to 
commence, though I very much doubt if 20 per 
cent, of the whole crowd would have gone to work 
at anything at all if they had it offered to them. 

p. 1640. I 



130 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

A more villainous gang of ragamuffins I do not 
think I ever saw ; in fact I liked their looks so little 
that although I had money in my pocket, and I was 
as hungry as a wolf, I would not change any for 
fear some of them might get to know I had it. I 
am quite sure that if some of the roughs that were 
lying around that town knew that I had any money 
I should not have got away with any of it if they 
could help it. So I looked about to find some way 
of getting some food, but for some time could find 
nothino- ; but at last a man came and asked me if I 
would give him a hand to get a cook stove into a 
shanty where he was going to set up a " hash 
house." I helped him and he gave me something' 
to eat as payment. AVhile I was here I got talking- 
to a man who owned a team and was waiting for 
the railroad operations to commence. He was well 
acquainted with the place and the surrounding' 
country, where ho had been for some time. He 
said to me " You see that affair on the hill over 
vender? AY ell, that is the Billings smelter ; it is a 
lead smelter, and they are short-handed up there. 
You arc sure to be asked to ^(^ to work, but don't 
you do it. If you should make up your mind to do 
so, just get some one to lend yon a gun and blow 
your brains out first, it will save you a lot of 
trouble." I asked him why he was so down on the 
job, and he said that the country was full of poor 
devils who had been poisoned through and through 
with the lead fumes, and who he asserted would 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 131 

never be any good again. On making further 
inquiries I found that lie \ias to a great extent 
correct in what he stated, that the ore which came 
from the Magdalena mines was of a peculiarly bad 
nature, being what is termed amongst miners white 
carbonate ore, and amongst other impurities it was 
said to contain a large percentage of arsenic, but of 
this I can assert nothing positively. I was told 
that a teamster who was employed in taking the 
stuff from the mines to the smelter one night when 
the ground was wet camped on top of his load, and 
in the morning he was lead -poisoned so badly that 
he was under medical treatment for some months. 

Not caring for the look of the place, and being 
anxious to push on, I left that night on the 
passenger. There was a sharp frost, and it was so 
cold that I had to look out for a warm corner, so I 
jumped the hind end of the sleeper. We were no 
sooner off than the sleeping car porter came out 
and wanted to know what I was doing there ; but I 
satisfied his scruples with half a dollar and he let 
me alone for the rest of the time I was on the train. 
When we arrived at San Marcial it was so cold that 
I decided not to go any further. Here I met with 
an accident that delayed me for 10 days besides 
costing me nearly all the money I had. It was 
pitch dark, and as I was walking across the yard 
I stumbled and struck my right knee against a 
switch lever, and hurt it so much that travelling 
was out of the question till it got better. So I put 

I 2 



132 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

up at the hotel, which cost me a dollar a day. The 
next morning, instead of being any better, it was 
worse and much swollen. There was a man here who 
called himself a doctor ; so being frightened that I 
might have injured my knee more that I at first 
thought, I went to him. He gave a bottle of stuff for 
which he charged me two dollars. I believe it was 
just common turpentine liniment and worth about 
ton cents. I soon saw that there was nothing very 
serious the matter, but was too stiff and sore to 
move about for ten days. Though the place was 
dull enough most of the time that I was in this 
condition, there was one thing happened while I 
was there that created quite a little sensation. As 
I was sitting on the piazza of the house at which I 
was staying I noticed a man come riding up the 
street and get off his horse in front of a small 
saloon that was situated about a couple of hundred 
yards from where I was. He was dressed in the 
iisual cow-boy rig of that region and rode a small 
broncho pony. Almost at the same moment that 
he entered the house I heard three pistol shots in 
quick succession, and he came out of the saloon 
again, and mounting his pony, he swam it across 
the river, and rode away in the direction of the 
Organ mountains. 

Knowing by this time quite enough of the 
country to be aware that for men to shoot each 
other was a comparatively common occurrence and 
considered by the bulk of the pojjulation, if not 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



133 



altogether a commendable exploit, at least justified 
by what most people in Europe would consider 
altogether insufficient provocation, I thought it 
not at all unlikely that there were some dead men 
in that saloon. I accordingly got up and walked 
over to see. I was not wrong in my supposition, for 
the first thing I saw when I entered was two men 
lying under the pool table, one shot through the 
middle of the forehead and quite dead, while the 
other was lying face down ; but on turning him 
over I found he was shot in the breast and also 
quite dead. The bartender was lying in one corner 
behind the bar, shot through the right lung and 
mortally wounded ; he died the same night. 

Three men shot in broad daylight in the middle 
of a town could not be overlooked altogether, so 
some of the citizens saddled up and went in pursuit 
or pretended to, but they put it off" till the murderer 
had got sach a start as to make it almost a cer- 
tainty that he would not be caught, at that time any 
way. I found out that this was the outcome of a 
gambling row that had occurred a night or two 
before, when this man had accused one of the three 
dead men of cheating, and had been rather roughly 
handled by them. 

My knee was still very stiff and sore when I 
made a start, but I was down to my last dollar, 
and so could not have stayed if I had wished. I 
jumped a freight here, and not being able to get 
into a car I rode the drawheads down to a place a 



131 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

few miles north of Rincon Junction. From tliis 
place the branch line runs down to El Paso, Texas. 
Where I was was no more than a small way 
station and would be a bad place to get away from, 
so I decided to walk. I arrived at Rincon about 
ten o'clock at night. It was freezing hard and 
miserably cold. Here I found aboat half a dozen 
men who were or. the road as well as m3'self. They 
were camped in an old log house where they had a 
big coal fire blazing on a mud hearth at one end of 
the place. They seemed to be very comfortable, so 
I joined the company and selecting a vacant spot 
I lay down on the floor and was soon asleep. It 
was just grey dawn when I was awakened by some 
of the others who said the place was on fire, and 
on getting up I saw that this was the case. The 
.fire had already got such a hold that I could see 
that there was not much chance of putting it out. 
Every one was suggesting something ; one said 
throw dirt on it, another said pull the burning logs 
out, while one man volunteered to go and fetch 
water, which he did, but it was only a small 
salmon tin full. When he arrived with this valu- 
able fire -extinguishing appliance he stood for a few 
moments looking at the fire and then, slowly raising 
the tin to his lips, he drank the water, and throwing 
the tin into the fire he said, " Which is the way to 
Doming, we had better get out of this before the 
citizens come and run us out." Not knowing how 
the owner of the shanty might take the burning of 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



135 



it, I thonglit it as well to take tliis hint and make 
myself scarce, but as I wanted to stay at this place 
till I could get a train down to El Paso I could 
not go away ii.ltogether. Sj I simply walked back 
on the track for about a mile, and waiting till the 
sun AYas well up, I then relurned as if I had not 
been there before. AVhen I got back I found a 
crowd of people looking at the smouldering remains 
of the house and cursing the " bums," as they 
termed them, who liad set it on fire. As I was 
coming in from the east and went up to have a 
look, no one ever suspected that I knew anything 
about it, nor did I see fit to let them know that I 
did. I stayed here all this day and had nothing to 
eat as I had only 35 cents, and would not spend it 
till I was absolutely obliged. Some time in the 
afternoon a freight came along and switched ofp on 
to the branch, and I was fortunate enough to be 
able to stow myself away in a car that was partly 
filled with baled hay. This was a very comfortable 
ride indeed, but I did not hold it far, for while I was 
asleep they switched the car out at a place called 
Las Cruces. When I awoke and found the car at a 
standstill I had a look out. Thouo-h it was nig-ht- 
time and quite dark I at once took in the situation, 
and cursing my luck turned in again and slept till 
morning. When daylight came I found that my 
lodging was shared by a strange man whom I had 
not seen before. Of course we at once struck up an 
acquaintance, and he told me that he was going down 



136 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

into Texas in tlie hopes of being able to get some 
work there. lie added that this was the morning of 
the third day since ho had had anything to eat. He 
was not a professional tramp I could see ; his hands 
were hard and scarred with work, and his clothes 
were such as are usually worn by miners. I told 
him, in return for his information, I was nearly as 
bad as himself, having eaten nothing for the last 
24 hours. He then said we must have a look 
round and see if we could manage to get some- 
thing. After strolling round the place, which is 
only a village, for awhile, we spotted some very fine 
turkeys, and my hungry companion said at once, 
" There is a good feed for two men on ono of those 
jokers ; we must have one of them, but we must 
wait till after dark, it will not do to take them in 
broad daylight." However, as I still had a few 
cents I did not feel justified in stealing turkeys, so 
I told him that I had 10 cents and would spend it 
in bread if we could find any for sale. All the 
people in the place seemed to be Mexicans, but at 
last wo came to a shanty where a Chinaman had 
a kind of a store. From him I bought 10 cents 
worth of bread, but put all together there was not 
enough to satisfy one of us. However, I cut it in 
two and giving the other fellow half I ate the rest 
myself. This, be it understood, was about nine 
o'clock in the forenoon. There being nothing for us 
to do, at least not till dark, if my new partner kept 
to his intention, we went down to the railway again. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



137 



The car in which we had arrived was now empty, 
someone having come and taken the hay away, so 
our bed was gone. However, the car was a shelter 
and the air was keen, so we took up our quarters 
there for the present. I lay down in one corner 
and tried to go to sleep, for when a man is asleep 
he does not feel hunger, and I always think that 
when there is little food to be had it is as well to 
keep as still as possible ; it prevents to a certain 
extent getting hungry, I believe. At last I suc- 
ceeded, and it was late in the day when I woke 
and found my chum was not in the car. He soon 
came back, however, and said to me, " You stood 
breakfast, I am going to find something for 
supper." I asked him where he proposed to get it. 
"Never mind," said he, " I will get it or bust in 
the attempt." He then told me to go along the side 
of the track and pick up what pieces of coal I could 
find. Without asking any more questions I did as 
I was requested, and in the course of an hour or so 
had quite a good pile, besides some pieces of w^ood. 

I had a pretty good notion that he meant to have 
a turkey, but any scruples of conscience I may 
have had on this score in the morning were fast 
disappearing under the pressure of circumstances, 
for I was getting most desperately hungry. My 
partner (whose name I did not trouble to inquire) 
had a look at the fuel, and said that it would be 
enough for his purpose. He then communicated to 
me that he had a kerosine tin planted all right, 



138 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

that would just suit what he wanted it for, which 
he now avowed was to capture, cook, and eat one 
of the tui'keys we had seen in the morning. He liad 
found out where they camped, and as soon as they 
retired for the night and things were quiet about 
the town he went and captured one. In the mean- 
time I had put some water in the tin, and had it on 
the fire boiling when he came back with the turkey. 
It did not take long to dress, for I soused it into 
the boiling water feathers and all ; by doing this 
the feathers all came off with a rub, and as they 
were wet they did not fly about, thus making it 
much easier to conceal the evidences of our horrible 
crime. We were so hungry and the turkey smelt 
so good that he never got the chance to get 
properly cooked, for we were hooking pieces of it 
out and scalding our fingers and mouths with it 
long before it was half done ; in fact the cooking 
and eating processes went on at the same time, and 
both came to an end at the same time. 

After we had finished our meal we dug a hole in 
the sand and buried the bones and feathers, and as 
luck would have it we got away that night the 
same way as we got left the night before, for a 
train came along and picked up our empty and took 
us down to El Paso, where we arrived early next 
morning. This was a piece of very good fortune, 
for we might have been run up north again instead 
of going in the direction we wanted. Here I parted 
with my companion, who got a job at something or 



-ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 130 

other in one of the railway shops. There was not 
much going on in this town, and the weather was 
most abominably cold. The wind was blowing 
what they call a '• norther," a real " Texas norther," 
and a beautiful thing it was. The locomotives were 
smothered from one end to the other with frozen 
steam. The wdieels w^ere in most cases just like 
discs of ice, and there were icicles as thick as a 
man's leg hanging from the underside of the 
cylinders, and anywhere else where there w^as a leak 
of either steam or water. 

I wandered round the town for a while very 
disconsolately, but at last I sat down on a seat 
in the plaza, and near to me came and sat down 
a couple of tramps, real bona fide '* bums." There 
was no mistake about them, for they were ragged 
and filthy beyond description. They addressed 
each other as " pard," although, as far as I could 
gather from their conversation, they had only just 
met by chance that morning. Bum 'No. 1. said to 
his companion, " Say, pard, done any chewing 
lately ? " " No," said he, " I ain't ; this town is 
about bummed out, and it ain't safe to ask for any- 
thing ; the cops are on to rae already, and I must 
shift soon, or I am good for the chain-gang." 
"Well, you come along with me," said No. 1. "I 
saw a man plant some bread and bacon in a prairie 
dog hole this morning, and if he has not taken it 
away again we will go and get it. It ain't much, 
but it is better than risking the chain-gang." 



1-10 .ADRIFT IX AMERICA, 

They got up and walked away, and that was the 
last I saw of them, though no doubt they went 
away and got the prize they were speaking of. 
But their conversation set me thinking that T was 
very hungry too, and as I had nothing " cached " 
in a prairie dog hole I hunted up a restaurant kept 
by a Chinaman, to whom I gave my last quarter 
for a meal. So I was once more "busted," and 
added another to my long list of bankruptcies. I 
started at once to look for a train, and as El Paso 
is rather a large place, with a good many people 
about the depot and railroad yards, I determined to 
go out to the first station on the road east and wait 
there for a freight train instead of attempting to 
board one at the city. Ysleta was the name of 
the place I came to ; it was a rather pretty little 
Mexican village. When I got there there was 
some kind of a festival going on, and the people, 
in spite of the cold weather, seemed to be enjoying 
themselves in good style. Having nothing to do 
till a train came by I went to work to find some 
shelter, and after rummaging round for a while 
I came across a dug-out that was in pretty fair 
condition, and had some straw in one corner. This 
straw had a rather musty smell, and looked as if it 
had furnished a bed for some generations of tramps. 
However, I was by this time learning to be thankful 
for small mercies. My first move was to get some 
fuel and make a fire, and as there was plenty of 
coal lying about the track which had I suppose 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 141 

fallen from the locomotive tenders and coal trains, 
I soon had a fire imder way that would have roasted 
an ox. I thought it unfortunate that I had not a 
portion of one to roast, but I gave myself a good 
roasting instead. I now lay down on the straw, 
and as it was not more than supper time I did not 
feel very hungry, having had some dinner this day, 
so I was rather jolly as times went then. I had 
not been here long, and was just beginning to get 
drowsy, when a man came in and asked me which 
way I was travelling. On my telling him that I 
was going east, he said, " There will be an east- 
bound freight here in a minute or two, and she is 
sure to stop, as there are some empties on the 
siding." I asked him if he had ever been on 
this road before, and he said he had. It was, 
according to his account, the easiest road in the 
States to get over as the train-men never troubled 
anyone. " But," added he, "' there is a very good 
chance of getting killed, as there is a wreck of 
some sort on this line about three times a week on 
an -average." 

As he was speaking the freight he had told me 
of drew up, and picked up the empties, into one of 
which I and my chance acquaintance jumped. I 
was loath to leave my good fire, but I wanted to 
get on my road, and could not afibrd to lose a 
chance. The cold this night was intense, and the 
car was full of cracks through which the wind 
whistled in draughts that seemed to go right 



142 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



tbrougli one. I danced and jumped and thrashed 
my arms to try and keep life in myself, but in 
spite of all I could do the tears were running down 
my face with the cold. I do not mean to say that 
I was crying, but I have noticed on many occasions, 
when exposed to intense cold, that the water would 
run from my eyes in a very annoying fashion, for 
by continually wiping my eyes I made them quite 
sore. I travelled all that night, and early in the 
morning came to a place called Sierra Blanca. I 
was now regularly done up with the fatigue of 
vainly trying to keep myself warm, for in spite 
of all my exercise I was almost half frozen. There 
was no town here, though there was an eating- 
establishment at the depot, which of course did me 
no good as I had no money. 

There is no natural water here, and all water has 
to be brought from a distance on the train. There 
is an artesian well that throws up a continual large 
stream of water, but it is unfit to drink, and so bad 
that it cannot be used in the boilers of the locomo- 
tives. It has a faint bluish tinge, and the people 
here warned me not to drink any, as they said it 
was poison. The thing cost the railroad some 
thousands of dollars to bore, as I was told. It is 
nearly all the way through rock, and 1,500 feet 
deep. There was no train till late in the evening, 
and I should have had nothing to eat if a good- 
natured brakc^sman who was there had not given me 
what he had left over from his own dinner. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 143 



CHAPTER IX. 

On the T.P. 

In the evening I got on the freight train bound 
east without any trouble and so left Sierra Blanca. 
My next stay was at Big Springs. During this 
part of the journey I found that what my last 
partner had said was quite true. The Texas Pacific 
was, compared with most other lines that I knew, 
very easy to beat. The train-men were very good 
fellows indeed. I was in an empty box car, or 
tramps " side door Pullman," and found it very cold 
for the sides were full of cracks. I walked up and 
down and thrashed my arms to keep warm, but 
it was very difficult to do so. At last the train 
stopped at a place called Wild Horse, and the front 
brakesman came down my way to something or 
other. As he passed my car he opened the door, 
swung his lamp in, and seeing me said, " Cold 
travelling this, old man, why don't you get out of 
here and ride on the engine ?" This was a surprise 
to me, as I rather expected to get put ofi", as I had 



144 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

no money to give him to be allowed to stay. So 
I said that I guessed the engineer would have 
something to say to that, and that I should not be 
allowed to. He then sung out to the engineer, and 
told him about me. This man at once called me, 
and told me that I was quite welcome to come and 
ride there with him as far as he went, which was 
to Big Springs, the end of the division. This 
engineer was about as kindly a fellow as I ever 
met. After asking me some questions, where I was 
going, and what I intended to do, he shared his 
supper with me, making me eat the biggest share, 
and giving me some hot tea, a luxury I had not 
seen for some time. He said that if I wanted to 
go to work he had no doubt that I could get some 
at Big Springs, as there was nearly always a 
demand for labourers round the yard or on some 
of the extra gangs that were working at various 
places on the road. I was glad to hear this, for 
being entirely without money I was anxious to 
earn some. 

It was morning when we arrived at Big Springs, 
and I went at once to the yard boss asking him 
for a job, and he set me to work immediately, first 
sending me lip to the house to get some breakfast. 
Here 1 found his wife, who was just clearing up 
the breakfast things, and did not seem very well 
pleased at seeing me. However, she gave me some 
frozen apple pie and cold coffee ; with this I had to 
be content. I stayed here in all three days, but the 



ADRIFT TN AMERICA. 1-^5 

boss was sncli a cross-grained fellow that no one 
conld do anything to snit liim, and his wife was 
just a good match for him, being as sour as her own 
apple pie, and that was abont the vilest stuff I ever 
put inside my lips. She used to call us railroad 
dogs, and on the smallest provocation abuse us 
individually and collectively, as if we had been a 
gang of robbers. I found my position here quite 
unbearable, so on the fourth morning, instead of 
going to work, I took the road for it, and started 
for Colorado City, which was distant about 40 miles. 
This was one of the hardest walks I ever had. I 
had had breakfast, such as it was, before I started. 
I do not know whether there are any now, but at 
the time I undertook to do this walk there was no 
station between Big Springs and Colorado City. I 
walked along the track on the ties or beside it, and 
hardly stopped the whole of the day. The prairie 
alongside, and as far as I could see, was rolling, but 
here and there it was broken with small streams, 
or little dry canons. The only trees were 
mesquite bushes. It was in some ways fortunate 
that it was cold, for had it been hot I might 
have found the smell of dead cows and bullocks 
intolerable. These were lying in the ditch alongside 
the track ; they had been thrown off and killed 
by the locomotives, and were rotten, swelled up 
hideously in the sun. I walked on all day, taking 
very little rest. The only living things that I saw 
were innumerable prairie dogs in their towns. 

p. 1G40. K 



lifi ADIUFT IN AMinUCA. 

They sat on the top of their houses, on the mound 
made of the thrown-up earth from tlie bnrroAvs and 
chattered at mo like a lot of monkeys until I was 
quite close to them, when they would suddenly 
disappear, diving into their holes like lightning to 
make their appearance again like a jack-in-the-box 
as I passed.'-' 

Once or twice the east or west bound mails passed 
me, and I wished I was on board the one going my 
way, but I only saw one tramp who was going the 
same way as myself. Sometimes I might have 
been glad of a man's company, and if this wretched 
fellow had been clean I might have made a partner 
of him for a time. But he was so filthy and so 
frank about his undesirable condition that I did 
not care for him to accompany me. So I left him 
behind about sunset, and went on walking till it 
got bitterly cold. Presently I thought I would 
camp and try to get a bit of sleep for an hour or 
two. I hunted up some dead mesquite wood, which 
makes a good fire, and lay down close to it, falling- 
asleep very quickly. 1 did not do much more than 
that, for I soon woke up and found that I had 
rolled so close to my fire that I had burnt a couple 
of holes in my coat, which had plenty of holes 
already. I got up and started out again in the 
black dark, for it was well on in the night now. 
The solitude was complete, so much so indeed as to 



* Note A. — See Appoiulix, " Texas Animals. " 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 117 

be quite oppressive. Knowing that there .was no 
town before I got to Colorado City., and feeling veiy 
hungry and tired, I kept pushing on in hopes of 
coming to it. However, I walked all night and it 
was sunrise in the morning before I arrived. As 
may be well imagined, I was pretty tired and 
liungry by this time, having been walking aljout 
24 hours at a stretch without anything to eat. I 
was faint with hunger and utterly worn out, and 
as I had no money 1 was in a rather hard fix. The 
first thing to be done was to get something to eat, 
but how to go about it I did not know without 
begging it, and that was altogether against my 
religion. 

As T was walking rounrl the town, and about as 
low in spirits as a man well coull be, I saw a 
woman with an axe chopping some wood. Thinking 
this was a good opportunity to get some breakfast 
without begging it, I went up to her and said I 
would chop her up a good pile of wood if she would 
give me something to eat. She at once agreed, and 
giving me the axe went into the house. She did 
not let me chop more than a few pieces before she 
called me in and gave me a good breakfast. 

I shall have occasion to speak of this woman 
again, but here T will mention that she was the 
kindest-hearted woman I think I ever met, and she 
was a friend to me at a time when I was badly in 
need of one. Her husband also was one of the 
most sterling good-hearted men I ever knew, and I 

K 2 



148 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

was in his employ afterwards for some time. His 
iinmo was Pike; by profession he was a p^ambler 
and owned a beer saloon in the town. 

After I had eaten my breakfast 1 went ont and 
chopped some more wood, and while I was at it 
Mr. Pike came home and told me to come np town 
with him and he wonld see if he could help me to 
find a job. He introdnced me to a butcher, who 
said that he knew a man who wonld give me 
work. 

As we were talking, this very man, Butler, came 
down the street, and, on being told that I was 
looking for work, he said, if I would come np to 
his house the next morning, he would give me a 
job. Pike took me home with him for dinner, and 
his wife made me up a bed in the kitchen for that 
night. I went to Butler's as arranged the next 
morning, and he put me to chopping wood, a large 
pile of which he had in his yard. I went in big 
licks, and, although it was a good-sized pile, I 
chopped it all up before he got back at night. He 
was so pleased at the day's work I had done, that 
he at once offered to engage me by the month if I 
Avanted to stay. I was very glad of the chance, as 
I wished to settle myself in some place, so that I 
could let my brother know Avhere to find me. So 
I closed at once with his offer, which was $18 a 
month and board. This was rather low wages for 
this part of the country, but he said, if on further 
acquaintance I proved to be worth it, he Avould give 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 149 

me more. I now was put at a kind of work that I 
had never been at before. This was going- round 
the town with loads of wood seHing it. I used to 
hitch up a team and go out on the prairie and pick 
up mesquite wood one day, and the next I took it 
round the town and tried to sell it ; if I did not get 
it off my hands that day, I took it home and 
unloaded it, and wont out for more the next. A 
few days after I came here to work Butler hired 
another man, whom he kept chopping up the wood 
that I brought in ; and some days I would take a 
load of this stuff out and try to sell it. At this 
business I was very successful, selling, I think, 
more than any other man in the town. 

Butler was a kind of a jack-of-all-trades ; by 
trade he was a machinist, and he had bought the 
exclusive right to sell and set up a kind of patent 
windmill pump in Texas; he also had a black- 
smith's shop, where he employed two or three men 
in shoeing horses, repairing waggons, and general 
blacksmith's business. Besides these, there was 
myself and the other man, who together looked 
after the horses and ran the wood yard. I was 
now fairly settled, and becoming quite a respectable 
member of society. There was a man named Fee 
working here also, who did all the carpenter work, 
for, although not a carpenter by trade, he was very 
skilful at the business. He always went by the 
name of Captain Fee, as he had been a captain in 
the Federal army during the rebellion, and had 



160 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



fought right through the war. He was a man of 
fairly good education and good common sense 
when he was sober, which, I am bound to say, 
was not on all occasions, for taking an occayional 
overdose of Bourbon was his one particular failing. 
He had a keen sense of humour, and one day he 
pointed out to me a man who was very flashily 
dressed, and had the appearance of being a 
" drummer," as they term a commercial traveller 
out there. Any person of judgment would have 
set him down as a howling cad at first sight, and 
they would have been right. " That man," said 
he, "took me on one side the other day, and, in a 
confidential manner, said, ' Look here, old man, I 
am a perfect gentleman, you know, but you need 
not mention it to anyone.' " Fee remarked that he 
need not be uneasy thinking that it would become 
generally known, as no one would be likely to find 
it out if he did not tell them. He remarked to me 
that the fellow was so dense that he did not see 
what was meant. 

After being at this job for some time, Mr. Butler 
one day said I need not take the team out that da}^ 
but I was to come up to the shop with him, as he 
required me at some other job. This proved to be 
the sending down of a windmill that pumped the 
water for a livery stable. At this job there was a 
good deal of climbing and work with ropes. Of 
course I was right at home at this kind of thing, 
being a sailor, and Butler was so struck with my 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 151 

haiidiness that, after the job was done, he said to 
me, " You will bo more useful to me at this work 
than at what you are doing at present, so, if you do 
not mind the change, I will keep you in the shop 
for the future, but I shall give you two dollars and 
a quarter a day, and you can board where you like 
in town." This was quite a rise in the world to 
me, as I boarded for j|5 a week, which left me 
$10 a week clear. T had, however, to buy some 
new clothes, which were very dear in this place, 
so that as yet I could get no chance of saving 
anything. In fact, I never thought about it ; I was 
glad enough to be simply earning a living after the 
hard time I had been having before I came to 
Colorado City. 

The work I was now at, although it paid me 
better, was not so much to my fancy as what I had 
been doing before, as I am very fond of horses, and 
never better pleased than when I am working 
amongst them, After a while I got very tired of 
being in the shop, where I was most of my time 
working at the drjll bench or striking for some of 
the smiths, so when Pike one day offered to give me 
the job of looking after his beer saloon, I accepted 
his oflfer and left Butler's employ. When I settled 
up I had just five dollars to the good, besides the 
new clothes I had bought. During the time thai. I 
worked for Pike I boarded at his house, as the 
saloon was a mere wooden shanty. It had been 
built outside the city limits, so that in case of any 



152 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

row or other iiTegularity the city authorities would 
not be able to do anything in the matter. 

The place was very quiet indeed while I was 
there, sometimes a whole day passed without one 
customer making his appearance. 

Pike was making some alterations and improve- 
ments to the jjlace, and fencing it in while I was 
there, and at this work I assisted, in fact that was 
chiefly what I did, as Pike himself was there most 
of the time, and when there was any " beer slinging " 
to do he mostly did it himself. 

This trade or profession of gambling, of which 
Pike was certainly a very favourable specimen, is 
not held in altogether such abhorrence or disfavour 
as some respectable English people might think. 
Of course I was pretty low down even in the social 
scale of a western town, but certainly among the 
working men we looked on " S(piare " gamblers as 
rather " high toned " than otherwise. The fact 
that gamblers flourish in flourishing times, and that 
they do well when money is plentiful, made us 
regard them with some favour. They were a good 
sign, and the gambling that was done in Colorado 
City was a good deal at times. Every saloon had a 
gambling room, where poker, stud-horse poker, 
faro, monte, keno, and a wheel of fortune were 
usually hard at it. Pike used to play in the Green 
Front Saloon, usually at faro. I daresay some of 
the folks who disapproved of his profession would 
have liked to run him and his friends out of the 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 153 

town, but it would have taken some one with a 
good deal of courage to handle this lithe, long- 
haired Georgian, who was as gritty as a grindstone 
and as hard as a keg of nails. I liked him and he 
was kind to me, and I don't care in the least what 
he did for a living. One day up at. his .saloon he 
had a carpenter, lately from the east, doing some 
work there. This man was not doing it to please 
Pike, and on being remonstrated with he said " I'm 
doing this job, don't you interfere." Pike looked 
at him. " I tell you what, my friend, you may be 
doing it," said he, " but I'm paying for it, and if you 
talk to me like that, I'll blow a hole through you 
that a rat could crawl through. You mind me." 
And that carpenter did. I own I should have been 
sorry to have anything like real trouble with him. 
While I was at this saloon I got a letter from my 
brother, saying that he had made his final prepara- 
tions to come out, and that he would arrive in about 
two weeks. Now, although my health had been 
remarkably good all the time I had been in the 
States in spite of the tough racket I had had, I 
now began to get a shortness of breath and a 
general feeling that I was fit for nothing. I also 
had frequent fits of vomiting and dizziness, but as I 
never had been seriously ill, I thought it would go 
away, and so I did not see a doctor. I kept on 
hoping I should again get well, and for a short time 
did get a little better. I left a letter at the post 
office, directing my brother where to come and find 



1<3-1 ADIUFT LN AMERICA. 

me, and one morning as I was standing outside the 
saloon I saw a man coming across the prairie. I 
recognised him by his walk as my brother, other- 
wise I should scarcely have known him. I certainly 
must any that for a man who was just fresh from 
London, and who, as I remembered him two years 
before was rather a fastidious kind of fellow about 
his personal appearance, he displayed a most 
extraordinary aptitude for converting himself into 
a most disreputable-looking ruffian in an amazingly 
short period of time. Rough as I was — and I 
certainly was rough — I was rather ashamed of the 
appearance he presented, and told him so, at which 
he laughed and said when he got his baggage from 
the depot he would see what he could do to 
improve it. 

Mr. and Mrs. Pike behaved in a very friendly 
and hospitable manner to him, and in a way that 
proved their goodness of heart, did all that lay in 
their power to make both him and myself feel at 

home. 

My brother would not hear of my staying in 
town, though if he had wished to I have no doubt 
that he could have procured some kind of quill 
drivino- job, as he was used to that kind of work, 
l)ut he said it Avas with the idea of leaving all that 
kind of thing behind that he had come from 
England. It being now early summer, or at least 
well on in the spring, the lambing time was in full 
swing, so of course there was any amount of 



AUllIFT IN AMERICA. 155 

demand for sbepherds. I was at this time really 
ill, but did not think it Avas anything serious, so 
when my brother went and saw a sheep man named 
Jones, who wanted to hire two men as shepherds 
during the lambing season, I agreed to go with him, 
although I was pertainly so ill that I had no 
business to leave town ; and I very soon repented 
of having done so. 



loG 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER X. 

Alkali Water and " 90 Days." 

The sheep ranch to which my brother and I were 
going was out in Scurry county some forty miles 
to the north of Colorado Cit}'^ across the prairie. 
The day after wo had agreed to go, Jones, our boss, 
was on hand with his waggon and a span of mules, 
by name Punch and Judy. AVe made a start rather 
late in the day as we could not make the whole 
distance in one day. Jones said it would be as well 
to divide the journey into two portions so that we 
should arrive at the ranch on the following evening. 

That night we camped about fifteen miles from 
Colorado City and slept under the waggons on the 
open prairie by the track which was called a road. 
The following night we reached the ranch, unloaded 
the waggon, turned the mules out to grass, and 
made our supper of pretty bad bacon and coffee, 
which are the staple articles of diet in Texas. We 
slept in the house on. the floor, though in a few 
days we should have to camp by the sheep corrals 
about half a mile away. 

All this time I did my best to do my share 
of the work, but in reality I was a great deal too 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 157 

ill to be of as mncli iiso as I ought to have been, 
and when \ turned out in the early morning I felt 
fitter to be in a hospital than to take a hand in any 
kind of labour. 

Jones and a young fellow whom he had staying 
at the ranch looking after things while he was in 
town, went out to look after the sheep part of the 
business, leaving my brother and myself to catch 
the mules and hitch them up, and go for a load of 
firewood, for the lambing had not yet really began. 
I was now absolutely useless and my brother had 
to do all the work. I am afraid, too, that my 
condition had the effect of making me very ill- 
tempered, so that I said things that must have tried 
his patience very much, though he did not say 
anything about it. 

We got back with our load about noon. After 
having dinner we went out about the sheep work ; 
this was work about which I knew nothing at 
all. My brother had had a good deal of experience 
of sheep out in New South Wales, where he had 
spent some years, during most of which time he 
was employed in some department or other of the 
sheep business, having worked on many of the 
largest sheep runs of the colony, But I was as 
green as grass at it, and it fairl}'" beat me. Jones 
gave me a bunch of sheep to take to a corral some 
distance away ; this bunch consisted of ewes and 
lambs, and although the distance I had to take 
them was less than a mile, I do not think I should 



1"^^ ADRIFT l.\ AMi;i!l('A. 

ever have got tliem there if my brother had not 
come along with another bunch, and putting his 
with mine we drove them tog-ether. Althouo-h the 
country here has no considerable hills about it, yet 
it is very rough and broken, the creeks in some 
places being bordered with bluffs, which though not 
very high are very steep and in many places quite 
inaccessible to horses. 

The sheep seem to know instinctively where all the 
worst holes and corners are to be found, and when 
it comes time to corral them, they always scoot off 
and get into the worst places they can find. Some 
of the ewes will insist on disowning their lambs 
and running all over the country to look for them 
when they are in the bunch all the time. As 
the sheep men in Texas do not use dogs the work 
is enough to drive an ordinary man wild, and I, 
not being used to the job, and being unwell to 
boot, was in about two hours as near crazy as I 
ever was in my life. 

Where the prairie is not broken up by small 
canons and bluffs it is what is called rolling prairie, 
that is, the ground is undulating and it is not 
possible to see any great distance ; it was in this 
kind of country where my brother joined his bunch 
with mine. He hove in sight over the top of a 
small hillock which had prevented me from seeing 
him l)et"ore, although ho must have been quite near 
me for some time. There was one ewe in my bunch 
that was a particularly l)ad beast ; if she had been 



ADIIIFT IN AMKRK'A. 155) 

iny property she would undoubtedly have fallen a 
victim to my indignation and her own confounded 
stupidity. She had disowned her lamb, and although 
the poor little beast was running after her bleating 
pitifully, she would have nothing to do with it, 
turning round whenever it came near her, and 
butting it savagely, and making the poor little 
weak-legged beast roll over and over on the prairie 
like «i football ; I wonder she did not break its ribs. 
This contrary beast would run wildly out on the 
prairie to look for her lamb, and when, after a 
considerable amount of running, I succeeded in 
turning her back again, she would coolly walk 
through the mob and out on the other side to give 
ine the same job over again. This game had been 
going on for some time when my brother joined me. 
Just as he came up what small stock of patience I 
had was about exhausted. I had driven the 
refractory devil of a sheep into the mob from 
about all the points of the compass, and she had 
just scooted off again. I was about done up with 
fatigue and sat down on a rock to curse everything 
in the world, but more especially sheep and lambs, 
although I did not forget my brother for bringing 
me out to such a job. When he came within 
speaking distance he asked me what was the 
matter. "Matter enough," said I, "these infernal 
sheep are possessed with a legion of devils, I 
believe, and I don't thank you very much for 
steering me up against such n job, and I do not 



160 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

know what you did it for unless you wished to 
qualify mo for a berth in an insane asylum, for that 
is where I shall certainly go if I stay here very 
long.'* " You are ill," said he, '' but never mind I 
will give you a hand and when you are better you 
won't mind it so much, though sheep are annoying 
beasts to handle at any time."* 

It was rather late that night before all the sheep 
were corralled and we could get onr supper, which 
by the way was poor enough, consisting of black 
beans and pork with coffee. 

This was my first and last day's work here, for I 
got so much worse that I was not able to leave 
the camp the next day. I lay here for a week, 
being quite unable to do any work. I was very 
miserable indeed, for I could not make out what was 
the matter with me. I felt as if I had steel bands 
round my chest, and sometimes for hours at a 
time I had to sit upright to breathe. My legs 
were swelled to twice their natural size and were 
very painful, the skin being quite tense and shiny. 

Jones was very kind, doing all he could for me, 
which was not much. At last I had a talk with 
my brother, and we came to the conclusion that it 
would be best for me to go into town and get 
medical assistance, as instead of getting any better 
I was only getting Avorse. 

According to this arrangement next morning 
Jones saddled up a horse, Rattler his name was, 

* NoTK B. — See Appendix, " Sheep and Sliccp-hcrdinfr." 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 161 

and I set off for a small town called Snyder, Jones 
sending a man with me to bring the horse back. 

I had not a cent of money of my own, so my 
brother got an order from Jones for .^10, which 
was all the money he had earned up to this time. 
He gave it to me, together with two silver dollars, 
which was all the money he had in the world. 

It was early morning and the sun was just 
up when I set out after saying good-bye to 
my brother. It was a long " good-bye," for it 
was six years before I saw him again, and then 
we met in London. But many a time in those 
seven years that scene has come before m.y eyes, 
and I could see him as I saw him then as I 
turned to have a last look back as old Rattler 
gained the top of the bluff. He was standing at 
the gate of a corral, out of which he was turning 
the sheep. His picture as he stood there stays 
in my mind to this day, and I have only to shut 
my eyes and I can see it all as I saw it that 
morning. 

I was very low-spirited indeed, for something 
seemed to tell me that we were parting for a long 
time, perhaps for ever. Getting to Snyder Avas 
hard work for me, for, though old Rattler was a 
smooth enough animal and as quiet as a dog, the 
least motion was painful to me in my condition. 

During this ride, which lasted some hours on 
account of my not being able to go beyond a slow 
walk, I suffered severely, and was very thankful 

p 1C40. L 



162 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

wlien it came to an end and I was able to get a 
rest. 

Snyder was not a large place, it consisted in fact 
of five houses ; three stood on one side and two on 
the other of the track, which was called a road, 
across the prairie. By some pejple that part of it 
which was included between the first and last house 
of Snyder was called a street. This town was in 
its usual lively condition when I arrived. There 
was a woman in a sun bonnet sitting in a rocking- 
chair on the verandah of one of the houses and two 
cow-boys were sitting on empty kegs in the saloon, 
chewing tobacco and engaged in the engrossing 
occupation of matching quarters for whiskey. These 
human beings and a yellow dog who lay stretched 
out in the middle of the street, and every little while 
snapped at a fly that settled on his nose, were the 
only living things to be seen in the place. 

Getting ofi" my horse and giving him in charge 
of the man who had accompanied me, I went over 
to the hotel and was infonned that I must stay 
there that night as there was no waggon going to 
Colorado City till th^ following day. This was 
annoying, but no more than I had expected ; in 
fact, I should scarcely have been surprised if I had 
been told that I should have to wait a week. 
Having, of course, nothing to do, I took up my 
quarters in a rocking-chair and dozed the time away. 

In the course of the afternoon I was roused up 
by an altercation that was taking place between 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 163 

tlie proprietor of the saloon and a seedy-looking 
individual on horseback who, from his being 
spoken of as " Doc," I inferred was supposed to be 
a doctor. He was demanding two dollars which he 
said the saloon keeper owed him for some pills. 
The saloon keeper, on his part, asserted that the 
debt had been taken out twice over in whiskey, and 
although he was willing to call it square, iu reahty 
he ought to make a claim for the excess whiskey 
consumed by the doctor on the strength of the 
debt. 

This same saloon keeper, who was a fine tall 
dark-complexioned man, was something of a des- 
perado in his way. At least, if he did not kill 
people for amusement or just to keep his hand in, 
he was not averse from trying to, or actually doing 
it if any reasonable excuse offered. I heard that he 
got into an altercation shortly after I left with a 
neighbour in whose house he was playing poker, 
and that this quarrel became serious. Fortunately 
he had no arms about him. But he rushed over to 
his house and brought out a 17-shot Winchester. 
His opponent in the meantime got a shot gun and 
filled his pocket with cartridges. He fired out of 
the window at the saloon keeper, who was in the 
road. But he had to take snap shots, as the other 
was very quick, and kept boring holes through the 
frame house every time he fancied he kncAv where- 
abouts his friend was standing. But this time no 
one was killed. Yet the man inside was hurt, for 

L 2 



164 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

the shot gun exploded and tore off part of his 
thumb. As the accident was accompanied by a 
yell, the other thought he had killed him. So he 
ran off, jumped on his horse, and rode down to 
Sweetwater, where he remained for a few days, 
until at last news reached him that he had made a 
mistake. He went back to Snyder, and next 
Sunday these two men, who had done their level 
best to kill each other, were as usual engaged in a 
friendly game of poker. My brother says that the 
only thing hurt in the shooting match was an old 
fowl who did not know enough to get out of the 
way of the shot gun. 

Early the next morning after my arrival the 
waggon was ready, and I made a start for the city. 
This journey was very trying indeed, as there were 
Tio springs on the waggon, and the road in places 
was rather rough. Of course, to a person that was 
well there would have been no inconvenience, but 
as every jolt was painful to me, it made the journey 
very miserable, and I was heartily glad when it was 
over. 

On arriving in Colorado City I went to the Lone 
Wolf Hotel, where I had been staying before I 
went out on the ranch. It was late in the day, 
and I was tired, as in my then state of health 
the least exertion was painful to me, and I had 
had rather a rough time of it since early 
>raornins:, being jogged about so in that wretched 
waggon. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 16.5 

I Lad some supper and went to bed feeling very 
miserable indeed. The first thing I did next 
morning was to go to the store and cash the order 
for ten dollars which my brother had given me 
when I loft the ranch. I then went and saw the 
doctor, who told me I had an attack of dropsy, but 
before I left the place another doctor came in on 
some business, and after having a look at me 
he said that I was suffering from a mild form 
of blood poisoning caused by drinking bad wa,ter. 
The fact of the matter is I had very little faith in 
either of them, as I believe that the majority of 
these western doctors are just apothecaries' assis- 
tants who have come west with the view of 
bettering their own condition by killing their 
fellow men, and really know as much about 
medicine as a hog does of harmony. However, 
when the second doctor had gone away, the one I 
had gone to consult turned to me and said, "It is 
no use for you to stay in this part of the country, 
as you will never get well here ; neither I nor 
anyone else can cure you as long as you stay. The 
best thing you can do is to keep what money you 
may have in your pocket, and go east out of this as 
fast as you can travel. When you get where there 
is good water and fruit and vegetables to be had 
you will not need any medicine, you will get well 
without it." On the whole he was not a bad sort. 
Most of them would have kept me till I had no 
more money to give them. I went back to the 



166 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

boarding-liouse and lay for a bit thinking of wliat 
the doctor had told me. 

I did not like to go as I wished to stay round 
where my brother was ; however, several people told 
me that they had known cases like my own which 
had been cured by leaving the country, tbe general 
opinion being that it was a sickness caused by the 
alkali water of Texas. Thinking that it would be 
best to take the doctor's advice and go east, I wrote 
a letter to my brother acquainting him with my 
intentions, and dropping it into the letter-box, I 
went and settled up at the boarding house, and, 
after bidding farewell to the Pikes, was then ready 
for the road. I made up my mind to get away 
that night if possible. I was wretchedly weak and 
short-winded, only being able to walk a few yards 
at a time, having then to sit down and rest. My 
legs were terribly swollen and ached most horribly. 
This was not very good shape in which to travel. 
However, it vas a case of " Root hog or die" and I 
had made up my mind to beat my way as far as 
Fort Worth, and then decide whether I should go 
north or south. I had brought a blanket from the 
ranch and should have liked to take it with me on 
my journey, but decided to leave it as I was 
scarcely able to carry myself, let alone any baggage. 
I went down to the depot after dark, and catching 
an east-bound freight, managed to get into an empty 
box car. The exertion of climbing in caused me the 
most excruciating agony. But I was so far lucky 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



1G7 



that none of the train-men tronblecl me, so that I 
made the whole oP the journey to Fort Worth 
without getting out of the car. It was morning 
when 1 arrived, and not having slept all night, I 
was about done up. 

I bought some oranges that I saw, and with a bit 
of bread and a drink of water, made as good a 
breakfast as I cared about. Going out of town a 
little way I found a sheltered spot, so making 
myself as comfortable as I could, I lay down and 
went to sleep. It was nearly sundown when I 
awakeued. I felt better and rather hungry, so 
striking out for town I bought some more oranges 
and bread, had supper and started out to see what 
train would be through Fort Worth that night 
going my way. for by now I had made up my mind 
to go north. 

There was a mail going east some time during 
the night, and I would have taken my chances on 
that as far as Dallas if I had been well, but I did 
not feel up to riding on the top of a Pullman sleeper 
or underneath on the trucks, and that is about the 
only way that a passenger train can be held for any 
distance. I decided to take a freight for it. There 
were two or three going east and one north. I got 
put off two of the east-bound ones and at last got 
away on the one going north on the Missouri 
Pacific. They sw.tched out the car that I was in 
at a place called Denton, about half-way to Denison. 
There were not m-any trains running on this line, 



1C8 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

and as most of them passed in the daytime, it was 
rather a difficult matter to get away. I stayed 
here two days, and as there was quite a lot of 
wild raspberries about it did not cost me a great 
deal for food. On the morning of the third day 
I was very much better, the swelling and pain had 
nearly gone out of my legs, but I was still as weak 
as a rat, and had scarcely any wind at all. 

About noon this day a train stopped at the depot, 
and for the sum of a dollar the hind brakesman 
stowed me away in the tool box under the caboose, 
as they call the brake van. In this manner I 
arrived in Denison, having now only one dollar and 
fifty cents in my possession. Being sick and not 
fit for hard work, I was now worse off than I had 
ever been before. I made up my mind not to spend 
any of my money for lodging, but to save it all for 
food. This resolve made it necessary for me to 
hunt up a roost of some kind, for, though the 
weather was mild, it was often showery, and I 
needed some kind of shelter. After looking round 
for some time I found a deserted dug-out, not far 
from town, and in this place I used to sleep at 
nights. A dug-out is the name applied to a 
primitive kind of hut which is buiJt half under 
ground. The man who intends to build a dug-out 
casts about him till he finds a suitable place. The 
place generally selected for the purpose is a sloping 
bank ; into this bank a square hole is dug and lined 
with whatever the builder can command for the 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



13 J 



purpose, sometimes rough lumber is used, but more 
often small stakes are cut and driven into the floor 
all round, to keep the earth from falling down. The 
hole is then roofed over with poles, on which grass 
or brush is laid as a kind of thatch, this being 
generally covered with a layer of earth, with a hole 
left at one end for a chimney. The dug-out is then 
complete. It is, in a severe climate, about the 
warmest and best makeshift for a house which can 
be quickly devised. 

In the daytime I rambled through the woods 
eating the wild fruit, and when I was tired I would 
sit or lie down under the shady trees. I was 
getting better and stronger every day, and I began 
to think I should soon be able to work again, when 
suddenly I was provided with a job in a manner I 
never dreamed of, and certainly did not wish for, 
that is to say, I was arrested as a vagrant. As the 
popular expression went, I got " vagged." I was 
taken to the lock-up and incarcerated in a beastly 
box about nine feet square. At one end was a 
kind of raised platform, on which there was a pile 
of frouzy blankets. This hole was filthy beyond 
description, and the smell of it was sickening. In 
this place I was kept all day till well on in the 
evening without anything to eat, when I was 
brought a meal of pork and beans and stale bread. 
Hungry as I was this feed was of such a character 
that I scarcely touched it. Next morning I was 
brought before an official whom they called the 



1~0 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

police jiulge, the same thing as we in England 
should call a magistrate. I was summarily 
sentenced by this gentleman to ninety days in the 
chain-gang. There was not the least show of 
juttico in the whole business ; I was not asked to 
give any account of myself nor allowed to say a 
word in my own defence, but was hustled back to 
gaol, and was decorated with the order of the ball 
and chain ; that is to say, they rivetted a ring of 
iron round my left ankle to which was attached a 
chain about two feet long, carrying at the other end 
a piece of railroad metal weighing about twenty 
pounds. Whenever it was necessary for me to move 
about I had to pick up this piece of metal and carry 
it about with me. 

There were eight men in the gang besides myself, 
most of whom, I have no doubt, richly deserved to 
be where they were, for a lower or more degraded 
set of ruffians I never set eyes on. There is a class 
of men in the United States who make tramping a 
business, and who never work from year's end to 
year's end, except when they happen to get collared 
and put in some chain-gang or other.* For these 
men the thing is good enough, and they deserve 
nothing better, but it is rather hard Avhen a man, 
whose only crime is that he happens to be sick and 
out of luck, gets treated in the same manner. My 
evident distress at the position in which I found 
myself was a great source of amusement to my 

* Note C. — See Appendixj "Tramps." 



.ADRIFT IN AMERICA. '71 

worthy companions, who were never tired of 
cutting jokes at my expense. 

We were taken out every morning under an 
armed escort, and made to sweep the public streets ; 
in the afternoon we usually chopped wood for the 
use of the gaol. Our escort consisted of two 
policemen, who carried double-barrelled shot-guns. 
If any one of the gang had attempted to make his 
escape, I have no doubt he would have been shot 
like a dog. 

However, I was so disgusted with my posit' on 
that I determined to risk anything to get away if I 
could see the least chance of doing so. The chance 
I was looking for came in ray way on the morning 
of the sixth day. On this particular morning we 
were sweeping up the road close to the railroad. 
There was a freight making up in the yard, and 
strings of cars were being run up and down the 
track close to where we were working. A happy 
thought struck me. I watched a chance when our 
guards were not looking my way, and edging close 
up to the track, I threw my ball over the metal 
just as a string of cars was coming down 
towards me. The first wheel that struck the chain 
jumped and made a great noise, but in a twinkling 
it was in two pieces, and with a bound I was up 
between the two cars nearest to me. Pulline one 
of the end doors open, I jumped in, and fell down 
like a log, and lay trembling for fear I should be 
missed before the train got away, and i^earched for, 



172 ADRIFT IN AMERICA, 

in which case I must have been found. However, 
in a few minutes, which seemed an age to me, the 
engineer whistled the brakes off, and I could tell by 
our regular motion that we were fairly off. As soon 
as I had assured myself that we were out of town 
I pulled the door open a bit to give me light, and 
then proceeded to dispose of what remained on 
my leg of the chain. I could not get it off as 
I had no tools, so tearing a strip off an old bandana 
which my brother had given me (he had bought it 
when working in Hull docks), I made one end of it 
fast to the end link of the fragment of chain, 
and pulling it up inside the leg of my trousers, 
I made it fast round my waist. Though I was not 
rid of it, this was a very good way of hiding it, 
though it was very uncomfortable. A small place 
called Colbert was the first place the train stopped 
at ; in fact, this is the first stop north of Denison. 
It is two or three miles north of the Eed River of 
the south, which marks the boundary of the Indian 
Territory at this part. Being anxious to get rid of 
the chain as quickly as possible I got off here, being 
pretty sure that no trouble would be taken to follow 
me when it was found that I had got clear away. 
I walked up the track for some little distance, 
when I came to a section gang at work. I had 
a good look at them, and coming to the conclusion 
that the boss looked a nice sort of fellow I went 
up to him and asked if he wanted any men. He 
said no, ha did not ; but if I was hungry I 



ADraFT IN AMERICA. 1^3 

could go with the gang, and have dinner when 
they went. 

Seeing that I had not misjudged ray man I told 
him the fix I was in, and asked if he would lend 
me a file, " Certainly," said he, " come with me to 
the tool-house, and we will soon fix that all right." 
So I went with him, and, getting a file, with a few 
rubs he cut the clinch ofi" the rivet, and, taking a 
hammer and punch, knocked it out, and the ring 
fell o&. I was now clear of all but the memory of 
the chain-gang, and was very well pleased to be so. 
As my health was now pretty well restored, I set 
about looking for a job, but it was uphill work, as 
all the farmers had their summer help hired, and 
Avould not want anyone till the haying commenced, 
which would not be for some time yet. The people 
were all partly Indians hero, although it could not 
be detected in a great many of them, as the amount 
of Indian blood was so small as to make no difi'erence 
in their appearance. During the remainder of that 
day I was at six or seven difPerent men, and came at 
last to the conclusion that it was not much good 
looking for any work in that part of the country. 
I was walking away from an old farmer whom I 
had been asking for a job when I heard someone 
shouting, and, looking back, I saw young fellow in 
the regular western cow-boy rig, beckoning to me. 
I went back, and asked him what he wanted. 
" Can you cook ? " said he. I told him I never 
had done any of it, but would try. 



174 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

" Well," said he, " there is not mucli to cook ; j'ou 
can fry bacon and boil coffee, I suppose ?" I said 
*'yes," I tliongbt I could manage that. "All 
right," said he, " you will do, and what you do not 
know we can teach you." He then explained that 
he belonged to a horse " outfit " that wds travelling 
north, and he had been deputed to hire a cook if he 
could get one to go for $20 a month and his board. 
The " outfit " consisted of Bob Wilson and his 
brother Jack, who owned the horses, of which there 
were 500, mostly mares with foals running with 
them. The man who had hired me, and whose 
name was John Jefferson Baxter, and a half-breed 
Indian, who went by the name of Chickasaw 
Charley, and myself, making in all five men, 
completed the crowd. It was now late in the day, 
and as Baxter had got what he wanted, he led the 
way and we went down to the camp, which was 
situated on the bank of a creek close to, though 
hidden from view by a belt of timber. As soon as 
I arrived I was at once introduced to my duties, 
and requested to cook supper. 

Soda bread was one thing that I was told I 
should have to make, and the materials being given 
to me I was left alone. Now, I knew about as 
much about making soda bread as the man in the 
moon, and I don't know what sort of stuff I should 
have produced if Baxter, who had been watching 
me, had not come to the rescue, and showed me 
-how to set about it. It is very easy to make, and 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 175 

after being shown once, I was able to get along all 
right. 

Before we turned in the horses were all rounded 
up, and the saddle horses that were going to be 
used the next day were cut out and 23icketel with 
lariats so that there need be no delay in the 
morning. At this work I was quite new, but my 
companions were a hearty good-natured set of 
fellows, and though they laughed and joked at my 
blunders, did all they could to help me along and 
teach me what I did not know. John Jefferson 
Baxter was a type of the real thorough-bred 
western cow-boy, and deserves describing. In 
temper he was quiet and would molest no man, but 
there was a look in his steady grey eye that would 
at once have told a man of any judgment that he 
was not a person to be played with. By no means 
bloodthirsty, though he was always armed to the 
teeth, yet, if he had just occasion to do so, would 
not have hesitated a moment in kdling a man. He 
stood about five feet five or six^ and was broad for 
that height, and as wiry as a racehorse, with legs 
slightly bowed from continual riding. lie was 
dressed in a buckskin shirt and leather breeches, 
with a broad-brimmed hat on his head and a large 
pair of Mexican spars on h'.s heels that clanged 
loudly at every step. Such was John Jefi'erson 
Baxter, and as good a specimen of his class as 
could be found in the western country. 



17G ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XI. 

On the Trail with Horses. 

I WAS called up next morning before clayliglit to 
make breakfast. I was more at home at the job 
than I had been the night before, and acquitted 
myself in a very creditable manner. My work, 
when we were actually travelling, was to drive the 
waggon. So, after breakfast was over, the boys 
saddled their horses, I hitched up my team, and we 
started off for the first day's drive. We used to 
travel distances which depended to some extent 
on the location of good camping places, but the 
average day's work was from 15 to 20 miles, but 
sometimes a good deal less. To anyone unacquainted 
with the country, to drive a waggon and pair of 
horses would seem a very easy matter, but I soon 
found out it was by no means as simple a thing 
as I had at first imagined. In the first place the 
horses I had to drive Avere taken from the herd 
every day, and I seldom got the same team two 
days running. 

The reason of this was that, being grass-fed 
horses, they were not fit for the work, and one day 
in the waggon was about all they could stand at a 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 177 

time. Not being a professional liorsebreaker, this 
was rather rough on me, and sometimes I had a 
nice job mth them. One of their favourite tricks 
was to turn sharp round and break the pole of the 
waggon, in which case I had to make another one, 
or to patch the old one up mitil I came whore 1 
could geL one. A pole was an easy thing to replace 
if we were near any timber. All I had to do was 
to unhitch the horses and tie them up to the tail of 
the waggon, go off and hunt up a sapling that 
would suit my purpose, fell it, dress the branches 
off, and put it in. Sometimes, when I had a bad 
team, I had this job two or three times in one day. 

On the waggon were carried all the goods 
belonging to the outfit, and a spare waggon-cloth 
which we used at night for a tent. I had an axe, 
an auger, a mattock and shovel, and these were the 
only tools that the outfit could boast. The mattock 
and shovel I found particularly useful in making 
roads, a job I often got, as in some places it was 
quite impossible to get a waggon along without 
patching up the road (or track, I sliould say, for 
road there was none). There are three big cattle 
trails that lead through the territory, called respec- 
tively the Chisholme, the Kit Carson, and the Great 
Western trail, but we were on none of the^e, as 
the boss thought we should get a better show for 
grass by keeping away from them. 

Our first camp was near a place called Tishomingo. 
I heard it was quite a little town, but was not there 

p. 1G40. M 



178 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

to see. This was the first place that we camped 
for the night, but we stopped for a couple of 
hours in the middle of the day, and had some 
dinner. 

Our first day's drive over, I began to feel quite 
at home with my new friends, and after the supper 
things were cleared up, and I had made all the 
necessary prepai'ations for the following morning, 
we sat up some time round the camp lire and told 
yarns, they about western life, cattle herding, 
Indian fighting, and such things, and I about the 
great world which they had never seen, about my 
life in cities, and at sea. I think J astonished them 
more than they did me ; in fact I believe they 
thought I was a very great liar, though they had 
too much politeness to say so. 

One day was much like another, and we kept on 
north, following the east bank of the Washita river 
till we were nearly up to the south fork of the 
Canadian. When we got to this south fork we 
experienced our first check. The river was well 
up, though not in flood. The horses refused to 
take it, and we could neither drive nor coax them 
into it for a long time. It was about mid-day when 
we got there, and we did not get across that night : 
we tried all ways until it began to get dusk, and 
the boss then decided to let it stay over till the 
morning. 

The next morning we got all ready and crossed 
with the waggon. We had to unload all things of 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 170 

a nature likely to be damaged by water and carry 
them over one at a time on horseback ; for thougli 
the river was fordable with care, the water came 
over the wasff^on bed. 

If the herd had consisted of horses, or if the 
mares had not had foals running with them, I think 
we should have got across without any trouble. 
The mares, though knowing well enough that they 
could get across all right, were afraid that their 
foals would come to grief — at least, that is the 
view I took of it. When the waggon and all the 
gear had been safely conveyed across, we had 
another try to get the horses over, and this time 
succeeded. 

I was on this occasion required to do a bit of 
riding, being provided with a wicked little half- 
broken broncho pony. This little beast had only 
one redeeming point of character, and that was a 
negative one. He did not buck. This was all the 
fun in the world to the boys, so much so, indeed, 
that after we had crossed the river, which we now 
did without much trouble, Jack Wilson offered to 
drive the waggon for a spell and let me ride, as he 
said, so that I could have a chance of improving 
my horsemanship ; but, as I gravely suspected, so 
that I might furnish diversion for the boys by my 
lack of it. However this might have been, I was 
glad of the chance, for I wanted to learn to ride 
rough horses, and just then anything new was a 
pleasure, even if I was not quite well. When Jack 

,M 2 



ISO ADRIFT L\ AMEllICA. 

gave me his horse first, we had something to do in 
which my mount was as interested as anyone, and 
though I found him hard enough to sit as he went 
after the horses, who tried to double back on us, 
that was nothing to what he did when he could 
devote the whole of his attention to me. Perhajis 
in some ways it would have been more satisfactory 
to me if he had bucked me off at once and finished 
the job, for at that time I had had no practice with 
bucking horses, and must have come off". However, 
he could not buck, but made up for it very well 
indeed in other ways. Sometimes he stood on his 
hind legs until I thought he v*^as going to fall over 
on me backwards ; then he suddenly came down on 
all fours and lashed out violently. Next moment he 
threw up his head and nearly struck me in the face. 
If he had done so he would have knocked me 
insensible. Then he put his head down and kicked 
like a cow, with one hind leg, and caught me a 
crack on the heel, which made me glad that he was 
not shod behind. Although he did not do it then, 
more than once I saw him fairly stand on his 
forelegs, and kick in this extraordinary way with 
both hind ones. He broke Jack Wilson's spurs in 
this way. Of course all the men expected me to 
come off, but in this respect, at least, they were 
disappointed, though I was often very near it ; for 
although the wicked little beast did his utmost to 
shift me, 1 managed to frustrate his efi'orts. I soon 
got very tired and sore, but T stuck to the job to 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 181 

the end of tlic day, by wliicli time I felt as if 1 had 
been kicked over every inch of my body, and when 
I dismounted I could scarcely move. Seeing that I 
was pretty well used up, Jack said I need not 
bother to do any cooking, as he would attend to 
that for this day. So I went and lay down and 
was very glad of the rest. 

. The next day I took my place on the waggon, 
and Ave proceeded as usual, camping early in the 
afternoon. 

The weather, which had been up to this time 
fine, now began to get rainy, and things were not 
by any means so comfortable as they had been. 
On some occasions I had great difficulty in lighting 
a fire, and as the ground began to get soft and 
muddy, our progress was slow. On one occasion 
we had to stop for three hours, cutting brush to 
fill up mud holes before the waggon could be got 
over the bad place. 

This kind of thino- went on till we arrived at the 
north fork of the Canadian river, which we found 
in flood. It was coming down in a deep, swirling, 
ugly kind of a fashion, that at once made it 
apparent that there would be no chance of crossing 
it for some days at least, even if it started to go 
down at once. This being the case, there was 
nothing for it but to wait patiently till we could 
get over ; so fixing the camp as comfortably as was 
possible, we prepared to put in the time as best we 
could, 



182 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

The rain liad ceased, and the snn was shining 
once more, so that we were as comfortable as is 
usnal in this kind of life. 

There being no work to do now but to herd the 
horses and see that none of them got away, all 
the boys began to turn out their stock of clothes, of 
which they all had about one change and no more. 
Soap was produced, and a general wash began. 
Jeff Baxter produced from some corner a shaving 
outfit and a pair of scissors, and informed the 
crowd that he was prepared to act barber to any 
one who required his services. I at once availed 
myself of them for my hair was long and ragged, 
and I had not shaved for a long time. After he 
had finished with me, and I had had a good wash, 
I presented quite an altered appearance, so much so 
indeed that Bob Wilson, who had been out with the 
horses, when he returned to the camp said, " Why 
you are quite a young fellow, I thought you were 
an old devil." We stayed in camp here for five 
days, by which time the river was down to its usual 
height, but on trying to make the horses take it 
they refused again, and this time, do all we could, 
it was quite impossible to make them. After 
wasting a day in fruitless efforts to cross, Bob 
Wilson decided to proceed up stream to where 
there was another ford, which he said was a great 
deal easier to cross than this one. It was a long 
way out of our road or he would have gone there 
first. We started early next morning, and after a 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA, 183 

long day's journe}'" arrived at tlie ford. Though it 
was dark, we decided to cross at once as there is 
always a chance of the river rising again, and it is 
as well to be on the right side. The crossing was 
affected this time, though not witliout trouble, as 
the horses. evinced a most decided dislike to taking 
the water. The river Avas not at all deep here, so 
that it was not necessary to unload the waggon. The 
waggon team was (juite played out this night, and 
the last part of the journey I had the greatest 
diflBculty to get them along at all ; in fact, when we 
got to the river they could go no further. So Jeff 
Baxter and Chickasaw Charley, who were riding 
fresh horses, made their lariats fast to the end of 
the waggon pole, and taking a turn on the horn of 
their saddles pulled horses, waggon, and all across, 
and we went into camp on tlie north bank. 

The country to the north of the Canadian river 
is more open and less timbered than it is to the 
southward ; in fact it is more like Kansas. Here 
we began to find a great difficulty in procuring fuel, 
sometimes having barely sufficient to do what little 
cooking was absolutely needful. Here, one day, I 
became aware that my companions were not what 
might be termed strictly honest. For some time a 
strange horse was seen on the outside of the herd, 
and Baxter said he thought that it was a wild horse, 
and belonged to no one. So when we went into 
camp that night the}" went out and caught him. 
He was a stud, and as fine a horse of his class as 



184 ADRIFT L\ AMERICA. 

I ever Haw. After lassoing him, ho gave a lot 
of trouble before we finally succeeded in getting 
him down, when it was discovered that he was 
branded on the right shoulder. The proper thing 
to have done in this case was to have let him go at 
once. However, my friends did not think so, for, 
.^eeing that the brand was somewhat simikir to one 
of our own, they at once proceeded to make up the 
deficiency. I did not like the business, as altering 
brands is felony ; and, althougli I did not take an 
active part in the business, if it had ever become 
known I have no doubt I should have been con- 
sidered an accessory, and suff'ered with the rest. 

Their method of doing the business was ingenious 
and effectual. By means of some small harness 
rings and scraps of iron, heated, and applied over 
a wet cloth, they managed to raise the flesh without 
burning the hair, and so gave the brand an appear- 
ance of having been put on some time. This, of 
course, disappears after a while, but would last 
quite long enough to enable them to get clear 
away with the horse if any questions had been 
asked about it, which, however, there were not in 
this instance. It soon became apparent that this 
animal had been broken to the saddle, for after a 
few days he became one of the quietest horses in the 
herd, and could be caught with little difficulty at 
any time. 

A few days after this we had quite an exciting 
time with a real wild horse. He was a bright 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 185 

cliesfcniitj and one of the finest-looking animals I 
ever saw. One morning lie came up to the herd on 
a long swinging trot, his head thrown in the air, and 
his long mane and tail floating out in the sunshine 
like liquid gold. As he stopped short and snorted, 
about a hundred yards away, he made as fine a picture 
as well could be. He was a' high-spirited fellow, 
for he at once ran into the herd, and challeno-cd 
fou]- stud-horses chat belonged to us, but, to use a 
popular western expression " they did not want any 
of the pie," on seeing which he let go a few vicious 
kicks at them and then proceeded to take charge of 
the herd on his own account. Of course we could 
not suffer that kind of thing, and so Bob "Wilson 
pulled out his revolver and was going to shoot him. 
Baxter, however, asked him to stop a bit till he saw 
if it was possible to catch him. After a little 
trouble he succeeded in doing so by throwing his 
lariat over his head. As soon as he felt that lariat 
on his neck he sprang wildly aAvay, and if Baxter 
had been riding an ordinary horse, both horse and 
man would certainly have had a roll on the prairie, 
if no worse came of it. But the wiry little cow- 
pony was well up to his work, and bracing himself 
firmly he met the shock without a wink, and down 
came the stranger with a crash, and rolled igno- 
miniously on the prairie, where the little cow-pony 
took good care to keep him, as every effort he made 
to rise was baulked by the pony backing off" and 
keeping the lariat tight. 



186 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

This fellow was so wild and vicious that it was 
not possible for iis to keep him, as we could not 
spare the time to bother with him. When he was 
turned loose, however, he had the good sense to 
clear out and give no more trouble, by which piece 
of wisdom he certainly saved his life, as if he had 
stayed round he would have been shot without 
doubt. 

The country was now mostly level prairie, dotted 
over in places by patches of small stunted timber. 
G.^'here were lots of small creeks to cross, and 
with some of them we had a great deal of trouble, 
not so much on account of the amount of water in 
them as the bad nature of the banks. One place in 
particular was very bad, the banks were very steep 
and muddy. Here we met with what might have 
been a serious accident. I was driving a pair of 
horses this day neither of which had ever been in 
harness before. I had had a good deal of trouble 
with them in the first part of the day, but they had 
been going very quietly for some time when we got 
to the bad crossing I am speaking of. 

I managed to get them down the bank and over 
the creek, but going up the other side something 
frightened them and they swerved sharp round, 
overturning the waggon and all its contents into 
the creek. Luckily for me I fell clear of the whole 
affair. If I had fallen under it (and I really cannot 
say how it was that I did not) T could not have 
escaped being killed, for it took us all about a 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 187 

quarter of a,n hour before we got it righted again, 
as it had fallen in such an awkward position and 
the mud was so slippery as to afford no sure foot- 
hold. The pole was of course broken short off. 
The horses began to kick and plunge and gave us 
no end of trouble to unhitch them, but we managed 
at last to do so. There was not a great deal of 
water in the creek, which was lucky for us, as if 
there had been we should in all likelihood have lost 
a great part of our goods, if not all of them. As it 
was they were all wet and plastered with mud. This 
was quite bad enough, as it was late in the day and 
no chance to dry any blanket that night. Fortu- 
nately there was no scarcity of fuel just here, so 
making a good fire, we managed to dry Bome of our 
things, though the blankets were, of course, too wet 
to sleep in. HoAvever, we made out as well as we 
could without them, and were thankful that thiup-s 
were no worse. 

Of course the duty of patching up the wreck 
devolved on me, so while the rest were drying their 
spare clothes (I had not got any to dry) I went out 
and cut a new pole for the waggon and put it in. 
After finishing this job I overhauled the harness 
and found several little things that had been 
broken, which in the confusion of the accident 
had not been noticed before. 

The night being fine and fuel plentiful, as I have 
said, we did not put in a very bad night, as I made 



188 ADKIFT IN AMERICA. 

up a roariii.f]^ good fire before I lay down to sleep 
and the night herders renewed it from time to time 
till I turned out in the morning to cook breakfast. 
We liad no sugar to our coffee that morning, the 
sugar bag having come to grief in tlie accident the 
previous night ; however, this was a small incon- 
venience and did not trouble any of us. After a 
day or two of travelling we came to the Cimarron 
river, or, as it is sometimes called, the Red Fork of the 
Arkinsaw. This is really the most dangerous river 
in the territory to cross, being full of quicksands. 

Some few weeks before we arrived there there had 
been two bullock waggons swallowed up, the 
drivers barely escaping with their lives, but losing 
everything. The place we w^ere to go over at was 
called " White's Crossing." It was necessary to 
exercise great caution to make the crossing 
successfully, so as to ensure the horses not stopping 
to drink. They were all watered before we got 
there, as if horses are thirsty no human power will 
prevent them from staying in a river, and if they 
had done so in this case it would most hkely have 
meant the loss of a great number and perhaps all 
of them. They were also driven slowly to ensure 
their not being fatigued. 

When we arrived at the river the horses Avere 
rounded up and two of the most trustworthy of 
the harness horses Avere cut out and put in the 
wajjgon. When we made a start tlie boss told me 



ADRIFT IN AMEIUOA. 189 

on no account to stop for anything till I got on 
dry land tlio other side. 

With this last injunction he gave the signal to 
the other boys, and we started across, and owing 
to the careful manner in which the thing had 
been conducted we arrived at the other side without 
any accident. Our next camp was at a place called 
Red Fork; there was a store here but .no village. 
Here we bought some things we were short of, and 
got the news, though the only piece of any 
importance related to a row that had taken place 
here some few days previous to our arrival between 
a man named Haughton and Chief Buffalo of the 
Cheyenne Indians. The row originated thus. 
Buffalo who was a turbulent mischievous fellow, 
had demanded of Haughton a toll of 15 ponies 
before allowing him to pass through his territory 
with liis herd, which consisted of Mexican ponies or 
bronchos. Of course Haughton would not agree 
to this demand, and told Buffalo that though he 
had no right to any at all, he did not mind giving 
him two just to save a bother. At this Buffalo 
became violently abusive and ended by drawing his 
revolver and snapping it at Haughton, though 
fortunately it missed fire. This no doubt saved 
Haughton' s life, as they were within two or three 
yards of each other. Haughton being a regular 
border man was of course well skilled in the use of 
a six-shooter, so without giving Buffalo the chance 
to fire again he drew his own weapon and shot him 



190 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

dead on the spot. The few Indians who had been 
with Buffalo, on seeing their leader killed, rode 
away, but returned in a short time with all of the 
tribe that they could muster up. This of course 
Haughton had expected, and he had sent one of his 
men down to a place not far from here called 
Cantonment where some two or three troops of 
U.S. cavalry were stationed to acquaint the 
commanding officer with what had occurred and 
ask for assistance. In the meantime he retired 
with the rest of his men to the store, in which they 
barricaded themselves. Before the soldiers put in 
an appearance, however, the Indians had run all the 
horses oif, stolen all the saddles, blankets, harness, 
provisions, and other property belonging to the 
outfit, and building a large fire they put the 
waggon on top of it and burned it up. After this 
they retired, having done all the mischief they 
could. When the troops arrived Haughton was 
arrested and sent under escort to Medicine Lodge, 
Kansas, where he would have to stand his trial for 
murder. I have no doubt he was acquitted, but I 
never heard how the affiair ended. 

We stayed in camp here for two days, during 
which time we did some horse trading. Leaving 
here, the country was very bare of fuel indeed, and 
Ave had great trouble in securing enough to cook 
with. The next river we came to was the Salt 
Fork, which we crossed with no trouble, as there 
was little water in it. The next few days' travel 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 191 

were not marked by any incident wortH mentioning, 
and in due course we arrived at Cottonwood Springs, 
whicli is situated just on the borders of Kansas, the 
camp taking its name from a spring of water and 
a single cotton-wood tree. It was just about a 
mile and a half distant from the town of Colwell in 
Kansas. Here it was the intention of Bob Wilson 
to make a stay of a week, and try to do some horse 
trading. 

As the camp was to be occupied for some time 
it was resolved to make it as comfortable as pos- 
sible. The morning after we went into camp here 
Bob Wilson started off to Colwell, as he said, on 
business, but in reality to go on a drunk. Before 
he went he left directions with one of the boys to 
ditch round the tent, so that in case of any heavy 
rain we should not have it running in on us. As 
soon as he was away, however, the man who was 
entrusted with this job, instead of doing it, just 
saddled up his horse and went to town on a drunk 
too ; consequently the tent did not get ditched 

at all. 

As luck would have it, the place in which the 
tent was pitched was a sort of dry gully, a very 
well-sheltered spot indeed in good weather, but a 
decidedly bad one in heavy rain, of which we had 
ample proof before we left it, though then the 
weather was fine and had been for some time. I 
was busy all day mending harness and setting 
things in order, and at nightfall the boss came 



192 ADRIFT LN AMERICA. 

back, and I could see at once that he was pretty 
full of liquor ; however, he was quiet enough, and 
turned in without making any trouble, after giving 
the boys a liottle of whiskey which he had brought 
back with him, and which made them sleep very 
soundly. Some time during the early part of the 
night I was awakened l^y a clap of thunder, which 
was followed by rain-drops pattering on the tent. 
The rain kept on increasing, and in a very short 
time it was coming down in torrents. All at once 
I became aware of a damp feeling round my 
shoulders which soon changed to a decidedly wet 
one, and I made the discovery that I was lying in a 
small stream of running water. Just about this 
time the boss made the same discovery, and rising 
up witli a roar he exclaimed : '* Damn the man that 
ditched the tent ! " This exclamation roused the 
rest. On each one discovering th3 position we were 
in he gave vent to some strong language, and all 
hands began to dress as best they could. 

Everything was confusion and cursing ; the stream 
steadily increased in volume, and we were faiily 
washed out of camp. Just as things were at their 
worst, down came a heavy gust of wind which laid 
the tent flat and sent us all sprawling and wallow- 
ing in the mud and water. 

There was now nothing for it but for each man 
to grab what he could and make a bolt for the 
waggon, which was covered with a tilt. This "was 
done, and in these most inconveniently close quarters 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 193 

we passed the rest of the niglit. Thinking to 
secure the best spot, I was the tirst in ; but before 
long I wished I was out again, for I was jammed 
up in a corner and could not move an inch. To 
improve matters I had something soft and slimy 
under my head, and could not make out what it 
was. In the morning, when we got out, I made the 
pleasant discovery that it was a smashed box of 
axle-grease, and that the back of my head and 
neck were plastered with the vile-smelling com- 
pound. This was my last night at Cottonwood 
Springs and also with the horse outfit. For some 
days I had made up my mind that at the first 
convenient opportunity I would leave, as at times 
there was some very shady business carried on, 
such as the brand -altering, which I already 
described. I did not like to be mixed up with 
this sort of thing, as it was sure, sooner or later, 
to end in disaster. Before leaving, however, I 
felled the cotton-wood from which the place 
takes its name, and chopped some of it up to make 
a fire at which I dried my clothes. I had been 
just a month at this job, and when I told Bob 
Wilson of my intention to leave, he at once paid 
me $20, the amount that was due to me. 

After saying good-bye to my companions, who 
all wished me good luck, I left the camp and went 
over to Colwell, where the first thing I did was to 
write a letter to my brother, telling him where I 
was and that it was my intention to go north, 
giving him St. Paul, Minnesota, as an address. 

p. 1640. N 



194 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XIL 

Beef Slough and the Mississippi. 

Afrer leaving Bob Wilson's gang and their rather 
shady proceedings I was once more entirely free. 
Knowing that there was a chance of getting sent 
out on a " labour pass " to almost any part of the 
States from Kansas City in Missouri, I determined 
to go there. Besides 1 heard there was a railroad 
war on and cuttisg of rates."'' This system of 
labour passes is curious, and in the eastern part of 
the States at times does away with the necessity 
for " beating " the railroad. Labour agencies or 
bureaus are to be found in most of the big cities 
in the middle States, and I continually saw adver- 
tisements for labourers for railroad work. All a 
man has to do is to go in and offer to take the 
job and pay a fee, which varies according to the 
distance he goes. But it is rarely over $5, even for 
more than 1,000 miles. He is then given a ticket 
and is supposed to go to work when he roaches his 
destination. Often, however, not one man out of 
50 will be left when the place is reached, and if 
any are left, they mostly want to go further. In 
fact the system is a bad one for all but the men 
and the agencies. I do not see that the railroads 
get much out of it. 

• Note I). — See Api>cn(lix, Railioiul Wars. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 195 

I found on inquiry at Col well that the fare to 
Kansas City was only $8, so for a change I deter- 
timed to pay it instead of beating my way as I 
usually had to. This left me with $12 on which to 
accomplish the rest of my northward journey if 
I failed to get a labour pass in Kansas City. It 
was late in the afternoon Avhen the train started, 
and I arrived at ray destination early the next 
morning, which I discovered to be Sunday. For 
when I was on the trail we never knew one day 
from the other except by accident. Kansas City 
was not like some of the far western towns, and 
there seemed just then very little business going 
on. Its being Sunday was unfortunate for me, as 
it meant a whole day's expense and nothing to 
show for it. However, it could not be helped, so 
I just spent the day in looking round the city, 
which in many respects is very fine, as long, at any 
rate, as it is fair weather. Next morning I was 
out early and went to all the labour agencies in 
town, but could get nothing that I wanted. I 
could have got sent down to New Orleans and 
several other places south, but I got no offer the 
way I wanted to go. This being the case, there 
was nothing for it but to start out and beat my way 
there; so crossing the river I managed to jump a 
freight on the Kansas City, St. Jo and Council 
Bluffs railroad, and got up as far as St. Joseph 
that same night. For the next week I continued 
to o^o north with varied luck in the way of trains. 



N 2 



IDG ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

On waking up one morning after sleeping in a box- 
car at- a place called Missouri Valley Junction, I 
found that my sleeping apartment had been shared 
with another man. He was a rather handsome 
young fellow and fairly well dressed, a somewhat 
unusual thing with people who sleep in box-cars. 
He was awake and sitting up examining his face and 
curling a rather fine moustache by the help of a 
small pocket looking-glass when I awoke. He was 
the first to speak, and he opened the conversation 
by remarking that I seemed to be in rather poor 
circumstances, which fact 1 of course assented to, 
as it was too obviously the case to make a denial 
any good, even if I had wished to make one. He 
then looked very hard at me and said : " Look hero 
young fellow, if you are not too good to do a little 
crooked business I can put you in the way of living 
more comfortably than you seem' to be doing at 
present." I asked him to explain what he meant 
by crooked business, for though I knew perfectly 
well what he meant, I wanted to draw him out and 
see what kind of proposal it was he meant to make. 
He then explained that he meant burglary and 
robbery of all and every kind that promised to be 
fairly remunerative ; he also went on to explain what 
it was he wanted me to do. "I do not," said he, 
" want you to do any of the practical part of the 
business, for that needs a particular training and 
knowledge which you do not possess, and so you 
would be only in the way ; " but what I do want is 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 197 

a partner to go into the stores and offices and spot 
where the " box " is situated (he here explained 
that by box he meant the safe) and to take note 
how the windows and doors are fastened, and get 
a kind of a plan of the place in his head, as all 
such information is invaluable when the time comes 
for doing the job. As I let him run on and did not 
make any objection to what he was saying, he 
thought that I was quite ready to fall in with his 
offer of partnership ; and when he put the question 
to me directly, and noticed that I hesitated, I 
noticed such a wicked look come into his face that 
I at once agreed to his proposal, intending to give 
him the slip that night. 

Now that it was settled that I was to be his 
partner, he opened out in good shape, and told me 
he had served a term of five years in the AVisconsin 
State prison for blowing open a safe and decamping 
with the contents. He was a good hand at telling 
a story, and if he was not a very great liar indeed, 
must have been through a great many peculiar 
adventures. He explained to me that it would be 
necessary to do a bit of burglary on my account at 
once, so as to fit me out with some new clothes and 
a supply of money so that I should present a 
respectable enough appearance to make some excuse 
for getting into such offices and stores as my new 
friend had designs on. He showed me his outfit 
of tools, which he carried inside his coat, which was 
fitted with a lining of leather in which were a row 



198 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

of beckets or small pockets in which he had stuck 
all sorts of drills and jimmies, and other para- 
phernalia of his profession. There was also a tube 
and a small coil of blasting fuse and some pov,'der 
in a flask which he said were used in " doing up 
a box " as he termed the operation of blowing 
open a safe by means of gunpowder or some other 
explosive. By this time I had made up my mind 
that this man was rather a dangerous and unde- 
sirable acquaintance, so that very night I slipped 
him while he was asleep, and got clear away. 
When I was once more alone I jumped a " freight " 
ngain and got up into the south part of Minnesota, 
near a town called Easton. Here I obtained 
employment on a farm owned by a man named Cole. 
I worked here for three weeks, during which time I 
wrote to my brother, but received no answer, for, as 
I afterwards found out, he never got my letters. I 
have worked for many different sorts of men iu my 
life, but I never came across such a beast of a 
nigger driver as this fellow Cole ; in fact, if I had 
not been entirely without money, I would not have 
worked for him a day. I was ploughing corn, and 
he would have me up at daybreak, and after I had 
fed and harnessed my team, if there was five 
minutes to spare before the breakfast was ready, 
he would put mo to saw wood with a bucksaw, 
while he would stand and swear at his wife for 
not having it ready. He used to allow the horses 
an hour's spell at dinner time, l)ut I only had half 



ADRIFT IN AMEllICA. 1 99 

au hour, and ho would stand and watch the hands 
of the clock, and the moment they were at the half 
hour I had to he at something or other, either the 
bucksaw again, or else he would have me take a 
scythe and mow the weeds round the house. After 
my day's work was over in the corn-field he would 
get me in the barn on some pretence or other which 
would end up in my having to turn the handle of 
the fanning mill while he cleaned wheat to take to 
the mill or else go to shucking corn till eight or 
nine o'clock at night. He was a regular tyrant to 
his poor little wife, and worked her just as hard as 
he did me, and treated her a great deal worse than 
I would have allowed him to treat me. For this, 
as much as his conduct to myself, I very soon got 
to hate the sight of him ; for if there is one thing 
that upsets my temper quicker than another it is to 
see a woman ill-treated, especially if, as in this case, 
she has done nothing in the world to deserve it. 
After three weeks of this I could stand it no longer, 
and told him so, but when we came to settle up he 
tried to bluff me out of five dollars. I had en^aefed 
for $20 a month, and having worked three weeks 
I was, of course, entitled to $15, but he, for a long- 
time refused to give me more than $10. After a 
lot of trouble, I managed to get another three out of 
him, but do all I could he positively refused to come 
down with the other $2. After a lot of talk about 
it, seeing there was no chance of getting a proper 
settlement out of him, as he evidently meant to 



200 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

clieat me out of the $2, I lost patience, and picking 
up an old buggy neck yoke, 1 laid liim out with it ; 
I was in a passion, and Mt him harder than I 
intended to. He lay where he fell, and turned 
quite white, so that I was scared, and for a moment 
I thought I had killed him. I went into the house, 
and makino- a bundle of what few thino-s I had, I 
told his wife he was ill in the barn, and I guessed 
she had better go after him. However, by the 
time she had got out there, he had come to, and 
beyond a sore pate was not much the worse for the 
crack. When I came out with my bundle he was 
standing in the barn lot foaming with rage, and 
when I hove in sight he made a rush for me, but 
stepping to the wood pile I picked up the axe and 
told him that if he made it necessary for me to hit 
him again, not all the surgeons in the States would 
be able to patch him up. The fellow, who was 
really a coward, though nearly twice as big as 
myself, took water at once, and cursing and swear- 
ing most horribly he went into the house vowing 
he would have me arrested. However, though I 
stayed at Easton for two days, I never heard any 
more of it. 

i still had the clothes on in which I had left 
Texas, and they were nearly in rags ; my boots also 
wanted renewing, so although I had $13 I had to 
expend nearly all of it in getting some new things. 
The consequence was that I had not much left to 
travel with. Leaving Easton I started off to go to 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 201 

St. Paul as I was sure that I slioiild find a letter 
tliero from my brother, and I also had an idea that 
I would go out to Dakota in tlie fall and do some 
harvesting and thrashing as I had done before 
when I worked for Hank Beaver. But in the 
meanwhile times were hard with me, for work was 
very scarce, and with the exception of an odd job 
here and there I got nothing to do. In fact it was 
slow starvation. Some days I got something to eat 
and others nothing at all. For the last five days 
before I got to Minneapolis I had nothing but 
some green corn which I picked in the fields as I 
passed them. This was not very nourishing diet 
and I was getting as weak as a rat. 

As I was walking up one of the main streets in 
Minneapolis, feeling, and no doubt looking, very 
wretched, a man came out of a grain store and 
asked me if I wanted work. I at once said yes, 
though at the time I felt doubtful of my ability to 
do it, as I knew how weak I was after the way I 
had been living. However, I intended to try, as I 
must do something or starve to death. He sent me 
down to a warehouse from which he was takine- a 
quantity of bagged grain. My job was carrying 
this stuff (maize it was) on my back from one end 
of the warehouse to the other, a distance of about 
40 yards. There was 120 lbs. in a bag and if I 
had been in my usual condition the work would 
have been quite easy to me, but in my then 
condition of starvation it was as much as I could 



202 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

do to stagger along under this weight. However 
there was nothing for it but to work till I could 
get the boss to give me some money. I told him 
I was so hungry that I could hardly Avork, and 
asked if he would give me some money to buy 
somethino: to cat. He said he would see about it 
and then went away. I had been working about 
three hours and it was very near to dinner time, 
wlion I fainted, the first and only time in my life 
I ever did faint. The other men tried to bring me 
too, but as they could not they sent out for a 
doctor, and as soon as he saw me he said, as I was 
told afterwards, " This is a simple enough case, the 
man is starving, that is what is the matter with 
him." When the boss, who was really a good sort 
of fellow, heard about it, he was in a great state of 
mind, and said, " I did not think you were in that 
condition, why did you not tell me ? " When I 
reminded him that I had told him, he said, " Oh, 
yes, but I had no idea you were as bad as that or I 
would not have let you work on any account till 
you were more fit." Of course, after this I got 
plenty of food, more a good deal than I wanted. I 
stayed for a few days and worked for this man, and 
he paid me every night. To save the expense of 
lodgings I used to sleep in a dry hole I found under 
a warehouse down by the river. Having now a 
couple of dollars in my pocket I stayed a day or 
two in Minneapolis to see if I could not obtain 
some job that- would be permanent, but could find 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 203 

none. So I went to St. Paul, where I found a letter 
from my brother, in which he said he had come up 
to Chicago with some cattle from Colorado City 
but had gone back again, as he had been promised 
a job to bring some more up for the same man. As 
he said nothino; definite about whore or when I 
should bo likely to meet him, and as I was ofi'ered 
work on a Mississippi steamboat, I determined to 
take the job and go down the river, trusting to luck 
to find some better job at some place or other. 

I began now to care very little what became of 
me. I had been having such a hard time of it that 
I was nearly despairing of ever getting anything in 
the way of a decent employment. I only stayed 
on this boat until we got to the first landing. The 
name of the place was Redwing. I found that the 
work on board was much too heavy for me, and so 
I walked ashore. On talking to some men I saw on 
the landing stage, I was told that there was a place 
called Beef Slough, a few miles further down stream, 
just over the river from a place called Wabashaw, 
where the logs that came down the Chippewa River 
were rafted, and that anyone who went there could 
get a job at a dollar and a half a day and board. To 
Wabashaw I accordingly determined to go, and I 
set ofi" and tramped it down there. Arriving at 
Wabashaw, I had to get across the river. There 
was a ferry, but the toll was 10 cents, and I had 
not got 10 cents to pay. This was a bit of a fix, 
for the river was too broad to swim- and carry my 



204 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

clothes across as well. I could certainly liave 
swum it easily enough without any clothes, but it 
would be no good for me to be on the other side 
with nothing on. I went to the ferryman and told 
him if he would put me across that if I got work I 
would pay him when I came back again, but the 
old curmudgeon would hear of nothing of the kind, 
at the same time remarking, in a significant manner, 
that he had seen people like me before. From his 
look and tone of voice, more than from what ho 
said, I inferred that he meant to be particularly 
offensive ; so I walked away and left him. 

Bat to Beef Slough I was going, whatever stood 
in the way. On that point I had made up my 
mind, so, walking back up the river for about a 
mile, I looked about till I found a piece of plank 
that was dry and would float. This was not difficult 
to light on. There is always a lot of wood of all 
sorts knocking about in this part of the country. 
Having provided myself with a suitable piece, I 
took off my clothes, made them up in a tiglit 
bundle, and securing them on to my little raft, I 
walked into the river, pushing it in front of me. 
I was soon out of my depth and had to swim, but 
the plank bore up my weight easily, and I just 
went across at a long angle, drifting down with the 
current. I made a landing about a hundred yards 
below where the ferrjraan was with his boat. As 
I dressed myself I could see he was looking at me, 
but I would not speak to him, and, turning round. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 205 

walked off in tlie direction of Beef Slough, where I 
arrived after about an hour's walk through the 
woods. This path was very little used, as the usual 
way of going to Beef Slough was by means of a 
small steamboat that used to ply between Wabashaw 
and there. But of this I knew nothinsf at the 
time, or I might have saved myself the trouble of 
swimming the river, as the captain of this boat was, 
as I afterAvards found out, a very good fellow, and 
would put anyone who wanted to go to the Slough 
across the river and accept his promise of payment 
when he had earned it. The first thing that struck 
me as I began to near the works was the number 
of men I came across in the woods who were 
comfortably snoozing upon mossy banks and under 
the shady trees. I stopped and spoke to one of 
these fellows, and asked him if there was no work 
to be had at Beef Slough. *' Yes, plenty," said he, 
" for those who like to do it, but I am not on that 
racket. I just sleep till the hash bell goes, and 
then I go in and eat. Why," said he, as he raised 
himself up, getting interested in his subject, " there 
are dozens of men getting fat here, and never doing 
any work at all. All you have to do is to put a 
good ' front on,' and waltz in with the crowd ; no 
one will know but what you are at work, and even 
if they did, unless it was one of the bosses, they 
would not say anything." " That is all right," 
said I, " as long as the fine weather lasts, but when 
the winter comes on, how are you going to come 



206 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

off then ? " " Ob," said he, "I shall be in California 
by then. I ain't going to stay this side of the 
mountains to freeze to death in the winter." 

Leaving this fellow to continue his rest till the 
next meal time, I went on towards the works, 
where I arrived in a few minutes. I at once went 
to the office and asked for a job, and a clerk told 
me to go down to the race and tell one of the 
working bosses that I was sent down from the 
office to get a job, which I did, and was at once 
put to work pushing logs down a long channel with 
a pike pole. This was the way in which the logs 
were conveyed to the place where the rafters were 
engaged in making the rafts up. This work is done 
by men who are steadily at work at it all their 
lives. They are " lumbermen," and can jump on 
a log and push it about in any way they like, and 
make it spin round under their feet, and, in fact, 
are as much at home on a log floating about in the 
water as anyone else is walking on dry land. 

To make a rough guess, there were, I should say, 
something like fifteen hundred men at work at this 
place, and what number of different jobs there was 
I am not able to say, but there were a good many. 
There was a saw mill, a turning mill, and a black- 
smith's shop, which gave employment to a good 
number of men apart from those who were actually 
engaged with the logs and the rafts. As soon as a 
raft was completed, the crew of the steamboat that 
was going to tow it down the river took charge of 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 207 

it, and the Beef Slough people were nnislied with it. 
If the steamboat people broke the raft up as soon 
they took it in tow, they would have to fix it up 
themselves as best they could. 

There was not house room for more than about 
half the men who were employed at this work, and 
the other half had to find a place to roost where 
they could. I was fortunate enough to secure a 
dry corner and a pile of straw in one of the barns. 

The food was plentiful and of fairly good 
quality. The work was not hard and the pay a 
little over the average of wages for this time of the 
year. Taking all things into consideration, I 
began to think that I had at last struck a job at 
which I could stay and make a little stake and be 
fairly comfortable. However, I soon found out 
that the reason why the other things were so good 
was that fever and ague were rampant, and it was 
quite the exception for a man to stay here for more 
than a week or two without getting it — in fact, 
men were coming and going all the time, and few 
stayed for longer than a week, giving as their 
reason for leaving the sickness of the place and 
their fear of getting down with the fever. Seeing so 
many men getting sick and others leaving, I began 
to get scared, and after being here for a week, I 
took a notion to leave, and accordingly did so. 
There had been some lost time this week and I only 
had four dollars to take when I went for my money. 
However, four dollars and health was better than 



208 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

forty and a dose of ague that would most likely last 
me all tlie summer and perhaps kill me, deaths 
from this cause being by no means an uncommon 
thing. 

Amongst the lumbermen who were at work at 
this place were some queer characters. The follow- 
ing story was told me one evening of one old 
fellow, who appeared to be a little cracked, but 
who, it the story is true, must have had rather 
more wit than some people gave him credit for. 
He had been working in one of the logging camps 
on the Chippewa River the previous winter, and 
had provided himself with a good outfit of woollen 
socks, but ho found that when he happened to get 
a pair wet and hung them up to dry, they were 
invariably stolen. He used to growl and swear 
and kick up a row about it, but could never dis- 
cover the culprits. This kind of thing went on until 
at last he came down to his last pair, and getting 
them wet one day he hung them up by the stove to 
dry and the next morning they were gone. He said 
nothing, but on the following morning every man 
in the camp on turning out found his boot tops cut 
off. The man who lost the socks was in the same 
fix as the rest. There was a general row, but as 
every one had been served alike, it could not be 
fixed on anyone in particular, though everyone, of 
course, knew that the man who had lost the socks 
had done it. For his part he looked on the scene 
very quietly, and at last remarked, without a smile 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 209 

on his face, " It 's an ill wind that blows no one any 
good. I shall know now who stole the socks." 

After leaving Eeef Slough, I crossed the river 
again to AVabashaw, and there I heard that things 
were booming up at La Crosse and that there was 
plenty of work to bo got there. This town was in 
Wisconsin, and I tramped nearly the whole of that 
distance, getting only one lift of about ton miles in 
the course of the journey. Ever since leaving Bob 
Wilson's I had been going down hill and getting 
more and more miserable. There, at least, I had 
companions an I plenty of food, even if I was still 
in poor health. But things got blacker and blacker 
to me, and although I never quite lost hope all the 
time I w^as in the States, on this journey I came the 
nearest to doing so. I walked along in a kind of 
mist and took very little notice of anything, even 
though it was fine weather. Perhaps if it had 
rained I might have ended everything. I had not 
the grit even to try and board a freight train.. I 
loafed along the road, trampino- all the while, 
trying, with no great persistence, to get work, and' 
starving in a kind of stupor. I suppose I was really 
ill, for I have never felt like it before or since, 
though I have often been in just as tight a place 
Avhen I was well and full of energy. All this 
journey I had no blankets ; even at Bob Wilson's 
I slept in some belonging to the outfit, and now I 
had to lie down on the ground, being glad if I came 
across anything in the shape of shelter. And it is 

p. 1640. o 



210 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

not encouraging to a sick man to have to sleep in 
heavy dew without anything but thin and wretched 
clothes to keep a,ny warmth in him. In this state I 
at last came to La Crescent on the Iowa side of the 
Mississippi River and opposite La Crosse. This 
was a disappointing place ; it was so sleepy and 
there seemed nothing at all to do there. When I 
arrived I had a look round, but as I could find 
nothirg in the shape of a mill or anything else 
which promised work, I crossed over the river and 
went into La Crosse. This was exactly the opposite 
"to the town I had just left, for it was very lively and 
very busy, indeed, full of saw mills, planing mills, 
and every kind of mill that is in any way connected 
with the lumber industry. But although there was 
plenty of work, there were also plenty of men to do 
it, and I could not find any place that was short- 
handed, though I got a promise of work in a few 
davs from one man. However, not beins^ able to 
subsist on promises, and being most extremely 
hungry, I began to cast about for some means of 
obtaining a dinner. I knew there were lots of cat- 
fish in ihe river, for I had seen them, but the thing 
was to catch one. I had no tackle nor the where- 
withal to buy an}^ Certainly I had a nickel, or a 
five-cent piece, but that was neither enough to buy 
dinner with nor enough to buy fishing tackle to go 
and fish for it. But fortune favoured me, and as 
I was walking moodily along the river side, won- 
dering if it would not be as well to give the fishes a 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 211 

feed off my own carcase instead of trying to make 

one off theirs, I stumbled over the very thing I 

was wishing for, which was a fishing line — not a 

good one certainly, but good enough for what I 

wanted. Tiiere were no hooks on it, but I had my 

nickel and I went to a store and got two hooks. 

Being now equipped, I went down to the river, 

and having heard that cat fish were not at all 

particular in the matter of bait, I dug some worms, 

of which there were plenty to be had with little 

trouble. 

Baiting my hook I threw it into a hole that 

promised well for a bite. However, after some 

minutes, feeling no pull I started to haul my line 

in, but found I was snagged. " My luck again," 

said I, " hooks and dinner gone at one fell swoop, 

and not a red cent to buy any more with." 

Hauling gently, however, first one way and then 

another, I felt the thing I had hooked first move 

and then come slowly away. So pulling gently for 

fear of snapping the line I at last landed it. When I 

got hold of the thing I found it was an old boot full 

of mud. Takino' and washinof it I found it was a right 

foot boot and in fairly good order, much better than 

mine was, so I tried it on and finding it was a good 

fit, I put it on and threw my own away. I fished 

for some time lono;er and at last I cauoht a sroo I 

sized cat fish. There was no difficulty in cooking 

it as an old kercsine tin furnished a pot, and 

lighting a wood fire I soon had it boiling away in 

o a 



212 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

good style. Having no more money than my 
expended nickel I had to eab my fish without 
bread ; however, I was too thankful at getting it 
at all to think much about that. After dinner I 
went down to the mills again but tliere was no 
chance of any work, so I lay round the water- 
side doino- notliinsf but lookinof at the steam boats 
}3as.sing up and down the river and whatever els3 
I could see to interest me. As night drew on I 
went to the mill where I ha 1 been promised Avork, 
and striking up an acquaintance with the fireman 
I got permission to sleep on a pile of sawdust in 
front of the furnaces. This fireman was English, 
and on my telling him I was an Englishman he 
became very friendly and gave me some of his 
own supper. The next morning I was down by 
the river side when a skiff* pulled ashore from 
a raft-boat called the " Iowa " and asked if there 
was a man there who wanted some work. Althouofh 
I knew nothing of rafting I jumped for the job 
at once. This raft was going down to a place 
called Dubuque in Iowa. These rafts are not 
really towed as most people understand towing, 
they are pushed down the river, the steamboat 
being behind or on the up river side of them. The 
raft is made in two parts which are lashed side by 
side, so that by casting them adrift and taking one 
half at a time the narrow parts of the river can be 
passed ; it is also necessary to take them apart in 
going through the numerous bridges that span 



ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 213 

the Upper river. The few da3's I was on this boat 
I was fairly comfortable and happy ; it belonged 
to an old man and lie had his wife and family 
on board with him. When we were o-oino- alono- 
all right, there was nothing to do, so wo used 
to sit under the hurricane deck of the steamer and 
spin yarns. I very soon ingratiated myself with the 
other men by leaching them to splice rope, an art 
of Avhicli they knew nothing but which they were 
very anxious to learn. I was rather surprised to 
find that they could not splice, as there is a great 
deal of rope used about a raft which is continually 
being broken or " carriei away," and great waste 
results from not having anyone there that can 
splice it. Sometimes when the raft got broken, 
as it often did, there was a nasty and (to me who 
was unacquainted with the work) dangerous job 
to mend it again. On one occasion, as we were 
passing near the bank in a narrow part of the 
river, by some accident either of steering or the 
current, one corner of the raft struck the bank. 
Of course the raft was at once broken and the way 
in which the logs began to slide and jam one over 
the other was enough to scare a man who was 
in any danger of getting a crack from anv of 
them. I and one of the other men were on the 
raft at the time when this accident happened. I 
at once saw that it was no use for me to attempt 
to get back to the boat, as I had not yet learned to 
stand on a floating log, and the raft had lost its 



21 i ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

usual firmness as the ropes that bound it together 
were broken. Seeing how things stood I jumped 
clean over the side and swam as far out of the 
mess as I could get, w^hich some of the older rafts- 
men said was the wisest thing I could have done 
under the circumstances. It took some hours to 
repair this damage, but it was fixed at last and we 
proceeded on our way once mor(>. Everyone of 
the river boats, whether raft boats or others, is 
provided with an electric search light, and the 
effect produced in some reaches when there are 
five or six boats going down at night is very 
striking. In some of the more intricate parts of 
the river and vrhen tlie river is foggy, of course the 
boats have to bring up at night. We had to stop 
one night on account of a kind of fly, it resembled 
the common May fly very closely — if indeed it was 
not that fly — the air was thick with them and they 
clustered round the search light in such quantities 
as to quite obscure it, and it was no use to brush 
them off. I use the Avord quantities as numbers 
does not express it properly, for in a few minutes 
after they first made their appearance they could 
have been swept up in bushels off the deck im- 
mediately under where the electric light was 
situated, and they were trampled to death in 
thousands on the deck till the planks were so 
greasy everywhere as to make it impossible to walk 
without falling, unless we all used the utmost 
caution. It was like walking on ice. 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 215 

On arriving at Dubuque tlie mate left, and the 
man who came in his place had some chum of his 
own that he wanted to give a job to, and so I had 
to leave. The captain told me that if I wi?hed to go 
up to La Crosse again he would give me a passage, 
but as I saw nothing to be gained by going there, I 
thanked him for his offer and said I would stay 
where I was. My pay amounted to 84, of which 
I expended two at once in a new pair of shoes, 
Avhich turned out a very bad investment, as they 
lasted me but a very little while. Still, I was 
fortunate at this place, for there was a steamboat 
here that had been laid up to get new boilers ;. 
she was just ready, and was going away next day. 
As I was standing on the bank looking at her, I 
noticed a man on board making a very clumsy 
attempt to splice an eye in a large new mooring 
rope. The mate, who was a fine big fellow, and a 
very handsome man as well, was standing looking 
at him, but evidently knew no more about the job 
than he did. My professional instincts were 
aroused at once, so going aboard, I walked up to 
them and said, " If you will allow me, I will show 
you how to do that job properly. I am a sailor, 
and understand that kind of work." The man 
who was at the job looked inquiringly at the mate, 
who said shortly, " Let him try." I took hold of 
the rope, and in a few minutes had put in a very 
creditable splice. This piece of work pleased the 
mate so much that he said, " I see you understand 



216 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

your work, and we have no ' sailor-raan,' so if you 
want tlio job, you can have it." I thanked him, 
and of course accepted it at once. 

The term "sailor-man" may need a word of 
explanation. On all these river boats most of 
the men employed are what is termed roustabouts, 
and are just ordinary labourers who are picked 
up anywhere, and as often as not leave at the first 
landing. These have no particular knowledge such 
as is required of men who sail in ships. But, as 
there is often some work to be done which requires 
a small knowledge of sea craft, they always carry 
one sailor who is called *' the sailor-man," and who, 
besides being paid $5 a month more than the rest, 
enjoys certain privileges and immunities, foremost 
amongst which is that, unless in a case of emer- 
gency, he is never called on to touch cargo ; and, 
even if he should be required to help stow it, he 
does not go on shore and carry it aboard as the 
roustabouts do. 

The name of this boat was the " Libby Conger," 
-and she belonged to fho Diamond line of St. Louis. 
The mate was a very nice man indeed, that is, to 
me, although he used to hunt the roustabouts round 
in good style ; but that, of course, he had to do, or 
he would have got no work out of them at all. It 
requires a hard character to control the class of men 
who work on these boats, as they are, as a rule, the 
very scum of the country, and would not hesitate a 
moment to take advantage of a man if they thought 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 217 

it would be safe to try it on. During tlie time I 
was on tliis boat I was as comfortable as I could be 
in such a place, which is not saying much. 

All the roustabouts had to sleep where they could 
find a roost, mostly amongst the cargo on the boiler 
deck ; but I had a little place underneath the Texas, 
which is the name oriven to the pilot-house on these 
boats. It was merely a hole, to get into which I 
had to crawl on my hands and knees ; but it was 
quiet and private, which was a great thing. 

There were two men kept on regularly and called 
deck hands, whose duty was to see that the cargo 
was stowed properly, and when it was discharged 
to be there to see that the roustabouts only took 
the goods that were to be landed at that particular 
place. Part of their duty was to *' heave the lead," 
if we may call it so, when we were passing any 
shallow places. This operation was accomplished 
with a long pole, which was marked in spaces about 
a foot long, alternately red and white. I and these 
two men used to have our meals together apart 
from the rest of the crowd. 

One day, as we were going down a broad straight 
reach in the river, and there was nothing to do, we 
were all sitting in the shade on the boiler-deck, 
when the conversation turned on working in the 
logging camps. One of the men, who had been 
engaged at this kind of work for some years, had 
some rather good stories to tell about what he had 
seen when he was up there. 



218 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

" Yes," said he ; " it is now some years ago — nine 
or ten, perhaps — when bear was a great deal more 
plentiful than it is now. T had been working all 
winter in a camp well np towards the head of the 
Chippewa River. The bears had evidently been 
used to live in some of the cabins in the summer 
season, when no one was ever up there except 
now and then an occasional hunter ; so when they 
began to come out of their holes at the end of the 
winter and early spring-time they often used to pay 
us a visit, and they have been known to tackle 
and kill men who happened to come on them 
unarmed. Bears are mostly pretty harmless 
animals in the summer and fall, if they are not 
meddled with, but when they come out first thing 
in the spring, lean and hungry, they are savage 
enough. Well, one night when we — that is, myself 
and two chums — had turned in, and had just put 
the light out, we heard a shuffling noise outside 
the door. Before we had made up our minds what 
it was, something gave the door a bang and sent it 
off the hinges and laid it in the middle of the floor, 
letting in a stream of light, for the moon was at 
the full. From my position in my bunk I could 
see a largo bear just in the doorway. He stalked 
right into the cabin, and without paying any 
attention to any of us proceeded to ransack the 
place for something to eat. Fortunately for us we 
were boarding ourselves, and had plenty of stores 
in the hut ; otherwise, if he had not been able to 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 219 

find anything more to liis taste, he would probably 
have turned liis attention to one of us, which would 
have been awkward, as there was not a shooting- 
iron amongst the crowd. However, he reduced our 
store-locker to a complete wreck, eating what he 
wanted and spoiling the rest. We were obliged to 
lie quiet and watch the show until such time as 
Bruin saw fit to go, as we were quite without arms 
and so could do no more than resolve that his next 
visit should not be quite such a success, that is 
from his point of view. After getting all he 
wanted he went off and left us to clear the wreck 
and go to sleep if we could. Next morning I went 
over to another camp a few miles away to get the 
loan of some fire-arms, but all I could scrape up 
was an old muzzle-loading rifle. This was not a 
very good weapon, but better than none at all ; so 
after loading it with powder and firing it off to 
make sure it was all right, I loaded with ball and 
put it in my bunk. As we had expected, as soon 
as the light was out and all quiet, the bear put 
in his appearance again. But we were ready up 
for him, and had made arrangements to conduct 
the show ourselves this time ; so when Mr. Bruin 
was licking out the molasses keg that had 
been put there on purpose to attract him to a 
convenient part of the cabin, I leaned out of 
my bunk and, putting the muzzle of my rifle up 
against his head, shot him so dead that he never 
kicked." 



220 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

During tbo whole of this trip the weather was 
beautiful, though at times rather too hot for 
comfort. The scenery on the river was pretty and 
varied. At one point there were some rather fine 
rapids, but they tould be avoided by going through 
a short canal which had been constructed for the 
purpose. I was in hopes we should shoot them in 
the old-fashioned style, as many boats still do, for 
I rather wanted to see what it was like to shoot 
rapids in a steamboat. In this, however, I was 
destined to be disappointed, as we went through the 
canal. 

We made a stay of some hours at Rock Island 
and then crossed over to the city of Devonport, 
which lies just over the river on the Iowa side. At 
this place we loaded a tremendous quantity of 
onions, both in barrels and bags. The levee was 
stacked up with the same article, and waggons 
could be seen in all directions loaded with it. 
One of the roustabouts, a mulatto, informed me 
that the place was called Onion City by steamboat 
men, on account of the quantities of this vegetable 
which were shipped from here. As we went on 
down the river, one day was like another in almost 
all respects, stopping here and there to pick up and 
put down cargo and passengers, and occasionally 
to " wood up," as taking in fuel was termed. 

In due course we arrived at St. Louis, which was 
as far down the river as this boat Avent. Here I 
left her, having thought the matter over, and seeing 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 221 

that I was doing no good for myself — in fact, was 
going from bad to worse — so I determined to go to 
some point on tlie east coast and go to sea again. 
I took my pay, wliicli amounted to $6, and went off 
to find out liow I could best get down to the east 
coast. 



222 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Washington and " Shanghai." 

That night I crossed the river to East St. fjoiiis 
or, as it is sometimes called, Illinois City, but 
finding no train going my way, and being tired, I 
lay down on some bales of goods that stood on the 
steamboat levee. Here I fell asleep and being 
very tired slept sonndly — so soundly in fact that the 
mosquitoes which came out in full force later on 
had a regular picnic on me, so that when I awoke 
in the morning I was in a miserable condition, my 
face being so swollen that I could scarcely open my 
eyes. 

From St. Louis east the whole country is a 
perfect network of railways, which, though their 
general direction is east and west, throw off 
branches in all directions. In consequence of this 
I was continually getting wrong as I tried to beat 
my way east, being carried out on these branch 
lines and having to walk back again ; but after 
about a week of knocking about I arrived at 
Indianopolis after passing through Terra Haute 
and Greencastle, Indiana. From here I was more 
successful, getting as far as Columbus, Ohio, in one 
night. A day or two more of kicking about 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 223 

brouglit me to Wheeling, Virginia, where I crossed 
the Ohio River, and proceeded to Pittsburgh. I 
was stuck at the Manongahela River, and as the old 
humbug of a ferryman would not put me across, I 
swam it. I dropped my clothes just before I landed 
and got them all wet ; indeed I nearly lost some of 
them. My clothes being wet did not matter a 
great deal as there was a hot sun shining, so by 
wringing them out well and hanging them up I 
soon had them dry enough to put on. At Pittsburg 
I again crossed the Ohio, which, making a long 
bend northward from Wheeling, and coming south 
again, passes between Alleghany City and Pitts- 
burgh at a small station just outside of Pittsburgh 
on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. I jumped on a 
freight train and made my way to Cumberland, 
Virginia, from which place I walked to Harper's 
Ferry, the place so celebrated in the great war. 
If I had not been hungry and footsore I should 
no doubt have enjoyed the walk very well, for the 
scenery was very fine indeed. The railroad bridge 
crosses the Potomac Eiver at Harper's Ferry, but 
there is no footway across, consequently it is 
impossible to get across without going in the train. 
As I had no money it was not possible for me to 
pay my fare, and as no freight trains stopped here 
I did not see how I was to manage. I stayed there 
for some hours looking for a chance to get over, 
but could not get one ; so at last in desperation I 
determined to jump on the next coal train that 



224 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

came by, as they ijlowed down on approaching th? 
bridge, but were still going I should say 10 or 12 
miles an hour. The undertaking: was a dangferous 
one and meant certain death if it failed — death by 
being cut to pieces under the train. However, 
cross the river I must and would at any risk ; so 
bracing myself up when the next train came I 
jumped, and managed to secure a footing on the 
iron frame, and held on by the top of the hopper 
which was higher than my head. These trucks 
are of a peculiar construction and made on purpo.-e 
for the conveyance of coal ; in shape they are like 
round hoppers and they are made of iron. I was 
in an awkward and dangerous position enough, for 
with my feet resting on a rim of iron about four 
inches in Avidth, I was holding on to the rim of the 
hopper, the top of which overhung the base, so that 
nearly all my weight was on my arms. In this 
position T crossed the bridge, the Potomac River 
dashing and foaming along its rocky bed below me. 
To have lost my hold was certain destruction, as if 
I had escaped being cut to pieces by the train, the 
fall into the liver would have been quite sufficient 
to kill me. The train pulled up at the other side 
of the river at a place called Sand Point, where I 
got off, very glad to be there to get off alive. The 
conductor came along and after calling me names 
for risking my life in that foolhardy fashion gave 
me half a dollar. I thanked him and said " if 
some one had given me this the other side of the 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 225 

river I need not have risked my life to cross it." 
It was now getting dark so I determined to go no 
further that night, and found a quiet corner to 
sleep in, in the round-house as they call the engine 
sheds. I was sleeping here most comfortably when 
an old cripple of a watchman came poking round, 
and finding me, turned me out. This was the first 
time I was ever turned out of a similar place, and I 
have often slept in them. Having to turn out of 
my shelter I went into a lumber yard and slept 
there for the rest of the night ; it was not cold but 
I got wet through with the dew. 

As soon as daylight came in I was up and started 
to walk east, along the towing-path of the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio Canal. At a place called Point of 
Rocks I overtook a canal-boat that was going down 
to the city of Washington. The captain of this 
l)oat said that if I chose to take a spell of driving 
the mules I could go with them and have my food 
on the boat. This being a much more satisfactory 
way of travelling than tramping it and hunting for 
grub, I accepted his offer, and for a day or two 
became a mule driver. This canal follows the 
course of the Potomac River, and the scenery is 
very beautiful. I was very comfortable indeed, 
having a good pile of hay to sleep on at night, and 
as much to eat as 1 wanted. The captain of this 
boat had his wife with him and they were very 
nice kind people, the other two men who completed 
the crew of the barge were also good fellows in 

p. 1G40. 1' 



22G ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

their way, and I got on very Avell witli tliem. 
The canal comes to an end before Washington is 
reached, and the boats are locked out into the river. 
This is not done in the usual way by a succession 
of levels, but the boat that iS' going out is put in 
a large tank, which is then lowered down an inclined 
plane to the level of the river. This place is con- 
structed on the same principle as a slip for repairing 
ships. The boat has then to be towed the 
remainder of the distance by a steamer. When the 
boat arrived at her discharging berth the captain 
gave me a dollar, which was more than I expected, 
as I had not stipulated for any wages and did not 
expect any. Being now in a seaport 1 began to 
look about for a ship, as I intended to go to sea 
again ; indeed there was not anything else I could 
do as far as I could see. There were no ocean-going 
ships here, so after a day's looking round I found 
a schooner that was in want of a man, and after 
some haggling as to wages, I agreed to go in her 
for $25 a month, which sum the captain, who was 
a regular skinflint, said was far too much. Her 
cargo was all in and she was ready to go to sea, 
Savannah, in the State of Georgia, being the port to 
which she was bound. However, we never reached 
Savannah, for after getting out of Chesapeake Bay, 
as we were lying becalmed a distance of about 
15 or 20 miles from the land, a steamboat that was 
bound in ran us down. This occurred in the 
middle watch, or between midnight and four in the 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 227 

morning, and I was below at the time. However, 
hearing the shouts of those on deck, and feeling the 
impact, I at once suspected what was up, and 
running on deck in my shirt I saw that we were 
sinking fast. Not wishing to be sucked down with 
her, I ran along the deck to the taffrail and jumping 
overboard swam as far away as I could get. I 
was not many yards away, however, when she 
foundered ; the suck of the water was very strong, 
and T could feel it pull me back like a strong current. 
The collision was caused entirely by our own 
carelessness, as there were no lights out, and I have 
every reason to believe that the captain, who was 
in charge of the deck, was asleep. 

The steamboat people were, to do them justice, 
remarkably smart in getting a boat in the water 
and coming to our assistance, and it was owing to 
this promptitude on their part that no lives were 
lost. We were seven hands all told, that is, 
captain, mate, four able seamen, of which I was 
one, and a boy who was cook and steward, but we 
were all saved. This under the circumstances was 
little short of miraculous, as I was the only swimmer 
in the crowd. I shall not mention the names of 
these ships nor the persons concerned, as the 
captain of the schooner is possibly alive, and having 
made some damaging statements about him (which 
are, however, quite true), I do not wish to mention 
names for obvious reasons. The steamboat was 
bound up to Baltimore, where we were all landed 

P 2 



228 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

next cla,y. I could now pose as a shipwrecked 
sailor, though I was in reality little the worse for 
the misadventure, as I had had nothing to lose and not 
having any wages to take all that remained for me 
to do was to get another ship as soon as possible. 
In this destitute condition I met a man who was, 
I think, a minister of some sort or other, a 
few hours after I came on shore, and he was very 
kind to me. On my expressing a wish to go to 
New York he took me to the railroad depot and 
bought me a ticket to that place and gave mo a 
dollar into the bargain. It was early morning 
when I arrived in New York, and at once I went to 
work to find a ship. As I was walking about by 
the East River quays I was accosted by a man who 
turned out to be a boarding-house runner. I knew 
quite enough of this class of people to wish to keep 
clear of them, but my condition was so bad at tliat 
time that it really seemed as if it could not be any 
worse. As this man did not seem to be a very 
bad specimen of his class, and as he promised to 
get me a good job in a coaster, I went with him to 
the house he was running for, which was a low 
den situated in a street off the Bowery. I did not 
like the look of the place much, but I was as near 
as may be destitute, having spent tAventy-five cents 
out of my dollar for some breakfast, so that any 
kind of shelter with the certainty of food of 
some sort was an improvement in my condition. 
I stayed at this place till late in the afternoon, when 



ADRIFT IS AMERICA. V2<J 

the man who had brouo-ht me there in the morninir 
came m and told me that he had been out all day 
trying to secure me a good job, and that he had at 
last succeeded. Tie became very friendly and 
talkative and ended by asking me to have a tb'ink. 
Not suspecting any foul play I agreed, and we went 
up to the dirty bar and he ordered two glasses of 
lager beer, one of which I drank and he the other. 
I had not had this drink down many minutes 
before I began to feel very queer, so much so that 
I at once suspected that I had been drugged, which 
was indeed the case for I was soon insensible. 

When I regained consciousness I found myself in 
a bunk in a place that I recognised as the 
forecastle of a large ship. My head was as heavy 
as lead and ached horribly, and altogether I felt 
miserably ill ; but I knew at once that I had been 
the victim of a practice at one time very common 
in all American ports, but now happily of much 
rarer occurrence, that is known amongst seafaring 
men as " Shanghai-ing." This is drugging men or 
intimidating and conveying them on board of an 
outward-bound ship against their will. The 
boarding-house masters by the collusion of the 
ship masters (most of whom are as big scoundrels 
as the boarding masters, and some a great deal 
worse), manage to net about three months of the 
man's wages in advance. 

I could tell by the steadiness of the ship and the 
Jack of all noise that the ship must be at anchor 



230 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

soTnewhere or other, and as I could see no one 
awake, I determined, if possible, to circumvent the 
nice gang of scoundrels that had put me there, and 
get away even if I had to swim for it, as I expected 
I should. Getting out of the bunk, I crawled 
quietly upon deck. The night was dark, there 
being no moon, but the stars were out, and I could 
see the vessel's spars clearly against the sky, by 
which I made out she was a full-rigged ship, 
carrying three skysails. There were also boom 
irons aloft on her lower and topsail yards, which 
made it plain to me that she carried those sailors' 
pet abominations, known as stunsails. All these 
details I gathered at a single glance, for I was 
quite at home at this kind of thing, and made up 
my mind that T would not go to sea in her, if I had 
to commit murder to get away. As I formed this 
resolution, my hand, which was resting on the fore 
hatch, came in contact with something hard and cold, 
which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a large 
sailor's sheath knife. This weapon I at once secured, 
and crept into the shade of the bulwarks in the way 
of the fore rigging. From this position 1 had a clear 
view right aft to the break of the poop. There was 
a man pacing up and down the quarter-deck, one of 
the officers I judged he was, for in ships of this 
kind the anchor watch is rarely trusted to a sailor. 
I watched my opportunity, and putting my head 
over the rail, I surveyed my position, and found we 
were lying in the middle of the river, and the tide, 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 231 

"whicli was flood, was running very strong, so tliat 
to attempt to swim ashore with my clothes on would 
have been ratlier a risky piece of business. I must 
find something or other to help me, but that fellow 
on the quarter-deck would be sure to spot me if I 
went rummaging round, and I knew enough of 
what these ships are to know that I should either 
have to kill him or be severely ill-used and put 
under lock and key till the ship was out to sea. I 
accordingly crept aft a foot or two at a time, till I 
was in the main rigging, and just abreast of where 
this man was walking up and down. He did not 
notice me, and I rather fancy it was a lucky thing 
for him that he did not, for I had the knife in my 
hand that I had found on the fore hatch, and had 
decided that if he attempted to interfere with me 
to kill him at once, and then make a jump for it, 
and risk whether I got ashore or drowned, rather 
than make a passage in an American ship of that 
class. However, there was no need to do so, as he 
did not even look my way till I was past him, and in 
the alley- way between the after- deck house and the 
bulwarks. Here the darkness was complete, and I 
was quite safe as long as I did not make noise 
enough to attract anyone's attention who might 
happen to be awake in the cabin. I crawled right 
aft to the tafl'rail, and quietly put the end of the 
spanker boom sheet over, and paid it out to the 
pin. I then cut down one of the life-buoys, and, 
slipping it over my arm, I grasped the rope and 



232 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

lowered myself noiselessly into llio water, and, 
letting go, I allowed the tide to take me about a 
hundred yards up the river, and then struck out for 
the shore/'" 

In about twenty minutes, during which time I 

had all my work to do, I reached, not the shore, 

but the off side of a Norwegian l)arque that was 

lying alongside one of the wharfs on the New York 

side. There was a side ladder over which I got 

hold of, and, letting the life-buoy go, I climbed on 

board. There was a Avatchman awake, and he 

could speak a little English. I told him I had 

fallen overboard from a ship in the river. He had 

a fire in the galley, and dried my clothes for me, 

and gave me some hot tea, for which I was very 

thankful. He let me turn in, in his own bunk, till 

next morning, when he gave me some breakfast, 

and I went to work to find a ship on my own 

account, deciding not to have anything more to do 

with crimps or such people. I should have liked 

to make a long voyage before going back to 

England, but could find no suitable vessel. At 

last, after tramping round all the quays, I came 

to the Anchor Line shed, by which Avas lying a 

steaml}oat belonging to that line, called the 

" Anchoria," and on going on board I found they 

were in want of a man. I asked the mate for the 

job, and he engaged me at once. The "Anchoria " 

was bound for Glasgow. 

* XoTK E, — See Appendix, " American Sliipmasters." 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 263 



CHAPTER Xiy. 

The Net Result. 

It was five days after I joined the " Anclioria " 
before she sailed. During this time I was engaged 
about the usual work that is carried on in a steam- 
boat, and was as comfortable as could be expected, 
seeing that I had no clothes but just what I stood 
upright in, and consequently was unable to change 
when I got wet. These clothes, by the way, were 
of such a sort as deserves a little description. They 
consisted of a cotton shirt, a pair of coarse duck 
trousers much the worse for wear, which one of 
the sailors on the boat that took me to Baltimore 
had given me, a pair of old low shoes, no stockings 
or underclothes of any kind, and a felt hat, out of 
which the crown was fast disappearing. Of course 
I had no oilskins, so that when it rained I had to 
get wet ; neither had I any blanket or bedding of 
any sort, and had to sleep on the bare bunk boards. 
But for this I cared little, as I was used to sleeping 
hard, and did not mind it much, although the month 
was October, and when we got to sea the weather 
was very cold. However, it never is very warm in 
the North Atlantic even in the summer time, at 
least I never found it so, and I have been across 



234 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

two or three tirnes. The number of stowaways 
that were coming to light every day was, I 
thought, significant of the hard state of the 
times on the east coast at this period. They 
were turning up out of all sorts of holes and 
corners by twos and threes all the passage until 
they footed up a total of 17. As they were 
found they were marched aft to the bridge, where 
the captain or officer who was in charge at the time 
would ask them in a stern tone of voice what they 
were doing there, and what they meant by it, &c. 
Then, turning to the boatswain, he would say, 
" Bo' sun, put them to work," after wbich. no 
more notice was taken of them, for they were 
all allowed to go their way when we arrived in 
Glasgow without any proceedings being taken 
against them. 

Two sailors from the watch on deck used to go 
into the bunkers to help trim the coal down to the 
firemen, and this being a warm job the boatswain's 
mate used generally to send me down, as he knew I 
had no clothes in which to stand the weather. This, 
coupled with the fact that I used to sleep in a white- 
washed jib cover which the boatswain's yoeman lent 
me to use instead of a blanket, very soon made me 
present a curious chequered appearance ; in fact, I 
was a regular study in black and white ; but by 
rubbing in and blending it soon changed to grey, 
and from that, on accoimt of the superior supply of 
coal-dust, to black, at which it remained for the rest 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 235 

of the passage. When we arrived in Glasgow it 
was raining heavily, and the town was enveloped in 
steaming fog, while under foot the mud was 
plentiful ; in fact, a more dreary, miserable ending 
to a hard and, for the most part, miserable pilgrim- 
age could scarcely be imagined; and, as a net 
result of my American travels, I was in possession 
of just 30s. 

Before I finish I should like to say something in 
explanation of what will doubtless strike the 
ordinary reader as a very erratic and foolish series 
of nearly aimless wanderings. In the first place 
there is, I firmly believe, in every man a latent spirit 
of unrest which only requires a proper opportunity 
to manifest itself, and the more it is indulged the 
stronger it grows, until the habit of vagabondising 
is firmly established. Then there is the temptation 
in America to go West, the hope of getting some- 
thing better, which often is really the throwing 
away of the substance to grasp at the shadow. 
When it is found to be a shadow, the deluded one 
turns away and consoles himself by grasping still 
another. So the thing goes on till at last, through 
wandering and hard knocks, the thin veneering of 
civilisation gets worn off* and leaves little more than 
the native savage, who is quite satisfied as long as 
he gets sufficient food to keep him from starvation. 
I did not get quite so far as this, though I have 
seen many who did, men too of education and 



236 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

culture, who wandered from place to place, who 
rarely did any work, and having lost the last vestiges 
of self- respect, were not ashamed to beg everything 
that they needed. Even in these cases, except the 
very worst ones, there seems to be some hope, 
something to which they are journeying, something 
that shall alter their course of life and make them 
what they were, and restore to them what they 
have lost. It is ever near but never attained, and 
they go down to their nameless graves looking 
forward to something that in the very nature of 
things they can never obtain. 



THE END. 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



23" 



Note A.— TEXAS ANIMALS, p. UG. 

Tho t'nniia of Texas is very varied, and a naturalist may find 
plenty there for his note-hook, and much to reflect on, if he be a 
contemplative man. A hunter may satisfy himself, too, if he goes 
into the extreme west and north-west, but he must be quick aliout 
it, for I received a letter the otlun- day from a friend of mine in 
the south part of the Panhandle of Texas, in which he told me 
that all the land was getting fenced in, even in those parts that I 
knew in 1884 as wide and open prairie, and when fences come 
the beasts go, deer and antelope retreat, and panther and cougar 
are hunted and shot by those who own sheep, cattle, and horses. 
I am no naturalist, and no great hunter. At the risk of causing 
a smile of contempt, I nnist confess that I can hold a shot gun, a 
"double-pronged scatter gun," or a rifle in my hands without 
shooting at anything I see. I have let antelope and <leer pass me 
without even letting the gun off, and have .spared sqiiirrels and 
birds innumerable that niost of my friends would have promptly 
slain ; but I take great interest in animal life, and am fond of 
watching the denizens of prairie or forest. 

When on my friend Jones's ranche in 1884, I sometimes -.vent 
wihl turkey hunting or potting; we used to choose a moonlight 
night and lie imder the trees, where they roosted, and shoot them 
on the branches. It was mere butchery, and the sole excitement 
consisted in the doubt as to whether any of the big birds would 
come or not, and the chief interest to me was the conversation of 
my wihl Texan friends, who were stranger than turkeys to me. 

There were not many birds of prey around us, except the big 
slow-sailing turkey buzzards, which are protected by law as 
useful scavengers. Nevertheless, I shot at one once, and, having 
missed it, I never tried again. 

My great friends were the hares or jack ral)bits, which are fast, 
but very ea.sy to shoot, for if I saw one coming my way loping or 
cantering along, I stood stock still, and he would come past me 



^38 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

without taking tlie least iiotict' of my presence, probably imagining 
I Avas only a curious-shapetl stump. Sometimes I found them in 
the dry arroyos or watercourses, and threw stones at them. They 
rarely ran away at once at full speed, but for the most part went 
a lit til' distance, and sat up to look at me, Avaiting for two or 
threi' stones, until they made u[> their mintls that I was decidedly 
dangerous. 

Another little animal was the cotton-tail rabl)it, so called from 
the white })atch of fur under the tail, which is as bright as cotton 
bursting from the pod. I killed one once mon^ by impulse than 
anything else. It ran from under my feet when I had a knife in 
my hand. I threw it at the ral)l)it, and to my surprise knocked 
it over, fi)r I am a very bad shot with that sort of missile. 

The prairie dogs or marmots were in tens of thousands rountl 
us, and I used to amuse myself by shooting at one in particular 
with the rifle. His hole was 100 yards from our camp, and he 
would come out and sit on his hill every now and again, and then 
go uibl)ling round at the grass. I shot at him a dozen times, and 
once cut the ground under his belly, but never killed him. They 
are extremely hard to get even if shot, for they manage; to run 
into their burrows somehow, even if mortally wounded. The 
Texans believe they go back even when quite dead ; but then they 
are rather credulous, for some of them believe that the rattlesnake 
lives in friendly terms with the inmates of the burrows. The 
rattlesnakes were very numerous, for one day I killed seven. The 
first one I saw threw me into a curious instinctive state of fury, 
and 1 smashed it into pieces, trend iling all over lik(! a horse who 
has nearly stepped on a venomous snake. Thos^! 'J\'xans Avho do 
not beli(!ve in the friendship of snake and prairie dog say that it 
is possible to make the rattler come out of a hole he has taken 
refuge in by rolling small pieces of dirt and earth down it. For 
they assert that the prairie dogs earth up the mouth of the burrow 
when they know a snake is in it, and the reptih' knows what is 
al)Out to happen. 

Of other snakes, theie were the mocassins, water snakes and 
esteemed very ileadly. It is said that when an Indian is bitten by 
by one of these he lies down to die, without making any effort to 
save his life, whereas if a rattlesnake has harmed him, he usually 
cures himself. Besides these there were the omnipresent garter 
snakes, and the grey or silver coach whip, both harmless. The 



APPENDIX. 



239 



bull suako is said to grow to an enormous size, and is a kind of 
North American python or boa. About five miles from our camp 
Avas an old hut, Avliich was occupied by a sheep-herder whom I 
knew. One night he heard a noise, and looking out of his bunk 
saw, by the dim light of the fire, an enormous snake crawling out 
of a hole in the corner of the room. He jumped out of bed and 
ran outside, and found a stick. He killed it, and it measured 
nearly 11 feet. It is called Indl snake because it is popularly 
supposed to bellow, but I never heard it make any noise of such 
description. 

On these prairies there are occasionally to be found cougars, 
commonly called panthers or " painters," although eiToneously. 
In British Columbia they are called mountain lions, and the same 
name is applied to them in California, unless they are called 
California lions. I am informed by a naturalist friend that they 
are the same species as the South American puma. I knew a 
man in Colorado city who was a great hunter of these animals, 
and he had half a dozen hunting tlogs torn and scratched all over 
their bodies, with ears missing, and one with half a tongue, who 
had suffered from the teeth and claws of these cougars. He kept 
one in a cage, which was much too small for it, and I was often 
tempted to poison it to put an end to its misery. This man had a 
regular menagerie at the back of his house, consisting of various 
birds, this cougar, and two bears. 

These bears are not infrequently to be met with on the prairies, 
and, while I Avas staying in town one Avas brought in in a wagon. 
Bruin had been captured by four cowbo}s, who had lassoed and 
tied it. He weighed about 600 lbs., and was a l)lack bear, for 
the cinnamon and grizzly do not, I believe, range in open level 
country. 

Besides these harmful animals, there were plenty of antelope to 
be found, if one went to look for them, and the cowardly slinking 
coyote was often to be seen as one rode across the prairie ; and 
often in walking I found tortoises, with bright red eyes. These 
wei-e small, about 6 ins. long. In the creeks were plenty of mud 
turtles, which are fond of scrambling on to logs to sun themselves. 
If disturbed they drop into the Avater instantly, giA'ing rise to a 
saying to express quickness, " like a mud turtle off a log." 

I have said nothing of bison. Perhaps there are none noAV, 
but in 1884 there Avere supposed to be still a fcAV on the Llano 



240 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



Kstae-ado ur Stakes Plain. I knew one Jiiaii who used to go 
limiting them every year and usually killed a few. But the last 
time I saw him he was on a " jamheree," or spree, and killed his 
unl'oi-tunate horse by tying it up without feeding it or giving it 
Avater, while he was drinking or drunk, and so he did not make 
his usual trip. But I imagine there can Ix* few or none left now, 
and prohabl}- the only representatives of the race are in the 
ISTational Park. 



Note B.— SHEEP AND SHEEP-HERDING, p. IGO. 

With the introduction of fences, which are now coming in with 
tremendous rapidity, sheep h(>rdiiig as an art is inevitaldy doomed. 
AViien I knew north-west Texas a few years ago, there was not a 
fence between the Rio Grande and the north of the Panhandle, 
but now barbed or plain wire is the rule, and in the pastures it is 
of course not so necessary to look after the sheep by day and 
night. In Australia I have not seen those under my charge for a 
week or more at a time. While there was water in the paddock I 
never troubled even to hunt them up in the hundred s([uare miles 
of grey green plain with its rare clumps of dwarf box. If dingoes 
were reported to be about I kept my e}es open of course, but they 
were very rare in the Lachlan back blocks, and I was never 
able to earn the five shillings reward for the tail of this yellow 
maraud(M-. But in Texas, there are more wild animals, the coyote, 
the bear, the panther or puma, and it is impossible to leave the 
sheep entirely to their own devices even in pastures which prevent 
them wandering. Nevertheless, looking after them on fenced 
land is very different from being with them daily and hourly, 
slee[)ing with them at night, following and directing them by dav. 
Icing all the time wary lest some should ])e divided from the main 
flock l)y accident, or lest the whole body should spy another sheep- 
owner's band and rush tumultuously into it. 

But the new and unaccustomed shepherd on the prairie is apt to 
give himself much unnecessary trouble. It takes some time to 
learn that a flock of sheep is like a loosely knit organism which 
will not .separate or divide if it can help it. It might be compared 
with a low kind of jelly fish, or even to a sea-anemone, for under 
fa\ourable conditions of sun and sky it spreads out to feed, leaving 



APPENDIX. 241 

between each of its moinbers what is practicjilly a constant dis- 
tance. But when the weather changes they come closer together, 
and any alarm puts them into a compact mass. I have heard a 
gun tired unexpectedly, and then seen some 2,000 sheep, spreading 
loosely over an irregular circle about half a mile in diameter, rush 
for a common centre with infallible instinct. And then they 
gradually spread out again like that same sea-anemone putting 
forth its filaments after being touched. 

The new shepherd, however, is in constant dread lest they 
should separate and divide so greatly that he will lose control of 
them. I have walked many useless miles endeavouring to keep a 
flock within unnatural limits before I discovered that they never 
went more than a certain distance from the centime. And this 
distance varied strictly with the numbers. At night time they 
begin to draw together, and if they are not put in a corral or fold, 
will at last lie down in a fairly compact mass, remaining quiet, if 
undisturbed, until the approach of dawn. But if they have had 
a bad day for feeding, they sometimes get up when the moon rises 
anil begin to graze. Then the shepherd may wake up, and finding 
he is alone, have to hunt for them. As they usually feed with 
their heads up wind, it is not as a rule hard to discover them. If 
the moon is covered by a cloudy sky they will often camp down 
again. 

The hardest days for the shepherd are cold ones, when it blows 
strongly. For then the sheep travel at a great pace, and will not 
go quietly until the sun comes out of the grey sky of the chilly 
norther which perhaps moderates towards noon. But in such 
weather they do not care to camp at noonday, and instead of 
spreading they will travel onward and onward. They doubtless 
feel uncomfortable and restless. After such a day they are uneasy 
at night, especially when there is a moon. 

It is my opinion, after experience of both conditions, that 
unherded sheep do much better than those which are closely 
looked after. In Australia our percentage of lambs was some- 
times 10-4, and any squatter would think something wrong if his 
sheep on the plain yielded less than 90 per cent, increase. But in 
Texas, where the mothers are watched and helped, the increase is 
seldom indeed 75 in the 100, much oftener it is 60. I used to 
wonder whether the losses by wild animals would have equalled 
the loss of 25 per cent, increase which is, I believe, entirely due to 

A p. 1640. Q 



2-12 ADRIFT IX AMERICA. 

the Ciuv taken of them. For herding is c.s.sentially a worrying 
process even when practised by a man who 'understands sheep 
well. The mothers are never left alone, and must be driven to a 
corral at night. Consetjuently thev often get separated from their 
laml'S before they come to know them, and one of the most 
pitiful things seen by a shepherd is the poor distracted CAve 
refusing to recognise her own offspring even Avhen it is shown to 
her. AVe used in such cases to put them together in a little pen 
during the night hoping that she Avould " own " it bv the morning. 
But very often she would not, anil then the laml) usually died. 
If, indeed, it was one of a nu)re sturdy constitution than most, it 
would refuse to die and became a kind of Ishmael in the flock. 
The milk which was necessary it took, or tiied to take, fi-om the 
•ewes who for just a moment might not know a stranger was 
trying to share the right of her own laml). Such an orphan 
rarelv grows up, and most of them die (piiekly, as they are 
knocked about and cruelly used by those who take no intei'est in 
the disinherited outcast of that selfish ovine society. And yet its 
real mother is in the flock reconciled to her loss after a few days 
of suffering. 

In spite of my brother's very decidedly disinclination to have 
-anything to do with sheep, they are, like every other animal, very 
interesting when closely studied. As he says in the text, I spent 
some years in their society, and knew a little about them. Shortly 
before he left me on Jones' ranche in North- west Texas a very 
curious incident occured, which I never could quite satisfactorily 
explain, for I believe the most serious fright I have ever had in all 
my life was caused by these same inoffensive, innocent quadrupeds. 
It was not inflicted on me by a ram, which is occasionally bellicose, 
but bv ewes Avith their lambs, and I distinctly remend)er being as 
surprised as if the sky had fallen or something iitterly o})pose(l to 
all causation had confronted nie. I want to meet a man, even of 
approved courage, who Avould not be shocked into fair fright by 
liaving half a dozen ewes suddenly turn and cliai'ge him Avif h the furv 
of a bullock's nuid onset. Would he not gasp, be stricken dumb, 
and look wild-eyed at the customary nature about him, just as if they 
had broken into awful speech ? I imagine he would, for I know 
that it shook my nerves for an hour afterwards, even though I 
had bv that time recovered sufficient courage to exiK'riment on 
them in order to see if the same residt would again follow. I had 



APPENDIX. 



243 



Hbont 500 ewo.s ami lanil)s uucUt my c-aic. The day was Avaiin, 
though the wind was blowing strongly, and when noon approached 
the flock travelled but slowly towards the place where I wished 
them to make their mid-day camp. To urge them on I took a 
long bandanna handkerchief, and flicked the nearest to me with it 
as I walked behind. As I did so the wind blew it strongly, and 
it suddenly occurred to me to make a sort of a flag of it in order 
to see if it would frighten them. I took hold of two corners and 
held it over my head, so that it might blow out to its full extent. 
Now, whether it was due to the glaring colour, or the strange 
attitude, or to the snapping of the outer edge of the handkerchief 
in the Avind — and I think it was this last — I cannot say, but the 
hindmost ewes suddenly stopped, turned round, eyed me wildly, 
iind then half a dozen made a desperate charge, struck me on the 
legs, threw me over, and fled precipitately as I fell. It was a 
rever,sal of experience too unexpected ! I lay awhile and looked 
nt things, exjjecting to see the sun blue at the least, and then I 
gathered mvself together slowly. In all seriousness I was never 
.so taken aback in all my life, and I was almost prepared for a 
ewe's biting me. I remembered the Australian story of the rich 
squatter catching a man killing one of his sheep. " What are you 
doing that for ? " he inquired, as a preliminary to requesting his 
company home until the police could be sent for. The questioned 
one looked up and answered coolly, though not, I imagine, without 
a twinkle in his eye. " Kill it ! why am I killing it ? Look here, 
my friend, I'll kill any man's sheep as bites me." For my part, I 
<lon't think biting would have alarmed me more. After that I 
made experiments on the ewes, and always found that the flying 
bandanna simply frightened them into utter desperation when 
nothing else would. It was a long time before they got used to 
it. I should like to know if any other sheep-herders ever had the 
same experience at home or abroad. 

In another Ijook I spoke of lambs when they Avere very young 
taking my horse for their mother. This was in California ; but 
in Texas I have often seen them run after a bullock or steer. 
One day on the prairie a lamb had been born during camping-time, 
and when it was about two hours old a small band of cattle came 
down to drink at the spring. Among these was a very big steer, 
with horns nearly a yard long, who came close to the mother, .;ust 
then engaged in de'.ning her ofPspring. She ran ofP, bleating for 

Q 3 



244 



ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 



her lamb to follow. The little chap, however, came to the 
conclusion that the steer was calling it, and went tottering up to 
the huge animal, that towered above him like the side of a canon, 
apparently much to the hitter's embarrassment. The steer eyed it 
carefully, and lifted his legs out of the way as the lamb ran against 
them, even backing a little, as if as surprised as I had been when 
the ewes assaulted me. Then all or a sudden he shook his head 
as if laughing, put one horn under the lamb, threw it about six feet 
over his back, and calml}' walked on. I took it for granted thrt 
the unwary laml) was dead, but on going up I found it only 
stunned, and, being as yet all gristle, it soon recovered sufficiently 
to acknowledge its real mother, who had witnessed its sudden 
elevation stamping with fear and anxiety. 

Sheep-herding is supposed by those who have never followed 
it to be an easy, idle, lazy way of procuring a livelihood ; but no 
man who knows as much of their ways as I do will think that. It 
is true that there are times when there is little or nothing to be 
done, when a man can sit under a tree quietly anil think of all 
the world Save his own particular charge ; but for the most part, 
if he have a conscience, he will feel a burden of responsibility 
upon him Avhich of itself, independently of the work he may have 
to do, will earn him his little monthly wage of twenty dollars and 
the rough ranch food of " hog and hominy." For there is no 
ceasing of labour for the Texas herder of the plains ; Sunday and 
weekday alike, the dawning sun should see him with his flock, and 
even at night he is still with them as they are " bedded out " in 
the open. Even if he can "corral" them in a rough sort of yard, 
some slinking coyote may come by and scare them into breaking 
bounds ; and when they are not corralled, the bright moon may 
entice them to feed quietly against the wind, until at last the 
herder wakes to find his chargi; has vanished, and must be 
anxiously sought for. In Australia, as I have said, the sheep 
are left to their own devices for the greater part of the year, 
unless there should be unusual scarcity of water; but, even 
there, to have charge of so many thousand animals and so many 
miles of fencing makes it no enviable task, while the labour, when 
it does come, is hard and ^'unremitting. In New South Wales 
I have often been 18 and 20 hours in the saddle, and have 
reached home at last so Avearied out that I could scarcely dismount. 
One day I used up three horses and covered over 90 miles, 



APPENDIX. 245 

more than 50 of it at a hard cantor or gallop — and if that be not 
Avork I should like to know what is. This, too, goes on day after 
<lay during shearing, just when the days are growing hot and hotter 
still, the spare herbage browning, and the water becoming scantier 
and scantier. And for a recompense ? There is none in working 
with sheep. They are quiet, peaceable, stupiil, illogical, incapable 
of exciting affection, very capable of rousing wrath ; far different 
from the terrible excitement of a bellowing herd of long-horned 
cattle as they break away in a stampede, among whom is danger and 
sudden death and the glory of motion and conquest ; or with horses 
thundering over the plain in hundreds, like a riderless squadron 
shaking the ground, with Avaving manes, long floAving tails, and 
flashing eyeballs, Avdiom one can love and delight in, and shout to 
Avith a strange A'ivid joy that sends the blood tingling to the heart 
and brain. Were I to go back to such a life I Avould choose 
the danger, and be discontented to maunder on behind the sIoav 
and harmless Avool-bearers, cursing a little every now and again at 
their foolishness, and then plodding on once more, bunched up in 
an inert mass on a sloAv-going horse Avho Avearily stretches his 
neck almost to the ground, as he dreams, perhaps, of the long, 
exhilarating gallops after his own kind that Ave once had together, 
being conscious, I dare say, of the contemptuous pity I feel for the 
slow foredoomed nmttons that craAvl before us on the long and 
Aveary plain. 

It is highly probable that the introduction of fences Avill haA'e 
its effect in other wa}S than in increasing the number of lambs 
born and reared. Sheep -herding Avill almost disappear Avhen the 
Avild beasts of Texas are extinct, as they soon must be, for a fenced 
country is Aery unfit for such animals. But then the natural 
glory of the Avide open prairie Avill be gone, and civilization Avill 
gradually destroy all that was so delightful, even Avhen my sheep, 
by Avorrying me, taught me what I have here set doAvn. 



Note C— TRAMPS, p. 170. 

The poor tramp is a much abused person, and I haAe no doubt 
that he often deserves Avhat is said of him, but, in spite of that, 
his life is often so hard that he might extort at the least a little 
sympathy — and something to eat. All Americans are too ready to 



246 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

confound two distinct classes of tramps — those who take the road 
to look for work, and those (the larger number, I confess) who 
look for work and pray to heaven that they may never find it. 
In this preponderance of the lazy traveller over the industrious lies 
the distinction between the state of affairs in America and 
Australia, for in the latter country the " sundowner," or 
" murrnmbidgee whaler," or tramp proper, is in the minority. 

When I was on the tramp myself in Oregon, I was nnich 
annoyed by being taken for one of the truly idle kind. I 
remember at Iloseberg, or a little to the north of it, I once 
stopped and had a talk with a farmer whom I ha<l asked for work. 
Although he had none to give me, he Avas very civil, and we 
talked of tramps and tramping. He looked at me keenly " I can 
see you are not of the regular professionals," said he, " Thank you 
for your perspicacity," I answered, and, though " perspicacity " 
fairly floored him, he saw it was not an insult, and went on 
talking. "Now look here, my boy, they say we're hard on 
tramps, and perhaps some of us are, but I reckon Ave sometimes 
get enough to make us rough. Last summer I was in my orchard, 
picking cherries, T think, and a likely-looking, strong young felloAv 
comes along the road. Seeing me, he climbs the fence, and says 
to me, ' Say, boss, could you give me something to eat ? I haven't 
had anything to-day.' I looked at him. ' Why, \v^^,' said I, ' If 
Aou'll go up to the house. I'll be up there in a few minutes, 
when I'ac filled this pail; and while you're Avaiting just split a 
little Avood. The axe is on the Avood pile.' Noav, look you, Avhat 
d'ye think he said. ' I don't split avooiI. I an't going to do any 
Avork till I get to Washington Territory.' ' Oh ! ' said I, ' that's it, 
is it ? Then look here, young felloAV, don't you eat anything, till 
you get there either; for I Avon't give you anything, and just let 
nie see you climb that fence in a hurry.' So he Avent off cursing. 
Ain't that kind of thing enough to make us rough on tramps ? let 
alone that they steal the chickens ; and if you look as you go doAvn 
the road, you'll see feathers by cAcry place they camj)." That Avas 
true enough, and south of the Umpqua I used to find goose 
feathers every few hundred yards. On that same tramp doAvn 
through Oregon, I once met four men traA^elling north. There 
had been a nuinler committed by a tramp to the south of Rose- 
berg, and Ave stopped under an old scrubby oak to talk it OA'er. 
Three of them Avere A\'orking men, T)ut the fourth Avas a true 



APPENDIX. 247 

professional, about 50 yt-ars of ago, -wlioso clotlics wnc ragged to 
tho last extroniity of tatters. His hands were brown at the baeks, 
but I notieed, when I gave hiui some tobacco, which he very 
pronijjtly asked for, that the palms were i)erfectly soft. He told 
us how long he had travelled, and how many years it was since he 
had done any work ; and, finally rising, he picked up a wretched 
looking blaidcet, and said, " Well, good day, gentlemen. I'm off 
to call on the mayor of Portland and a few rich friends of mine up 
there." He winked good-humouredly and shambled off. 

I met a lame young fellow near Jacksonvilh^, who told me he 
had come all the way from New York State, and was thinking of 
going back. He was in very good spirits, and did not appear 
in the least dismayed at the prospect of ti'amping 2,000 miles, for 
he was one of those who do not use the railroad and " beat their 
w.iy." AVheu I was at work in Sonoma County, California, a little 
fellow c.vme and worked for 10 days, who once travelled 200 unlcs 
inside the cowcatcher of an engine. Most English people know 
the Avedge-shaped pilot in front of the American engine Avell 
enough by repute to recognise it. When the engine was in the 
yard over the hollow track he crawled in, taking a board to sit on 
inside. When the locomotive once ran out on the ordinarv track 
it was impossible to reaiove him, although the fireman soon 
discovered his presence there, and poured some warm water over 
him. .On coming to a little town about fifty miles from his 
destination, the constable came down to the train. " He came," 
said Hub (that was our tramp's name), " to see that no tramps 
got off there, or, if they did, to advise them to clear out. He 
Avalked to the engine and said ' Good day ' to the driver. ' Got 
any tramps on board to-day, Jack ?' he said. ' We've got one,* 
he answered ; 'but we can't get him off.' 'Why ? how's that ? ' 
said the constable. ' Go and look at the pilot.' So he came 
round and looked at me, and he burst into a laugh. ' All right, 
Jack,' says he ; ' you can keep him. He Avon't trouble us, I can 
see.' And Avith that he poked me Avith his stick, and called 
cA'eryone to take a look. I said nothing, but you bet I felt mean 
to be cooped up there, not able to moA-e, Avith all the folks 
laughing at me." 

But, in spite of Hub's sad experiences, he AA'ent off on the 
tramp again as soon as he had enough to buy a pair of ncAv boots 
with. 



2-48 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

Tramps — that is, the bad ones among them — are very often 
insolent Avhen they find no one but women in a house. Once 
a man I knew was Avorking in Indiana, but, having a bad head- 
ache, he remained in one morning. By-and-by a truculent looking 
tramp came along. " Kin you give us suthin' to eat, ma'am ? " he 
growled. " Certainly," said the woman, who was always kind to 
travellers. She set about making him a meal, and put out some 
bread and meat. The tramp, who certaiidy did not look hungry, 
-eyed it with disfavour. " Bah ! " said he at last, with intense 
contempt ; " I don't want that stuff. D'ye think I'm starving ? 
An't you got suthing nice — say, some strawberry shortcake and 
cream ? " The woman stared with astonishment, as well she 
might. But the man with the headache heai-d Mr. Tramp's 
remarks. There was a shot gun hanging in the room where he 
was ; so, slipping off the bed, he reached for the weapon, Avalked 
out quietly, and, thrusting the muzzle of the gun under the tramp's 
ear, lie roared in a fierce voice " Get ! " And, to use the 
vernacular, the tramp " got" instantly. 

The last story I will tell of tramps is perhaps the most audacious 
of all. I met the chief actor in British Columbia. It appears 
that he and another man went one Sunday to a very respectable 
farmhouse in Illinois to beg for food. They knocked, and there 
was no answer. They knocked again, and still without avail. 
Then they opened the unlocked door and went in. The dining 
table was laid ready for a feast, as it seemed, for it was adorned 
with an admirable cold collation, including a turkey, sevei'al fowls, 
and a number of pies. The eyes of my acquaintance and his 
partner sparkled. Here was a chance, for the family was at 
church. They went out, got a sack, and hastily tumbled into it 
the turkey, the fowls, some bread, and the most substantial pies. 
Just as it was getting full one looked out of the window, and saw 
a man coming up the path. They were struck with terror of 
discovery, but, on watching, they soon saw that this was a tramp 
like themselves. He came up, and knockeil at the door. " Can 
you give me something to eat, sir ? " he asked humbly. " I guess 
so," said my acquaintance coolly ; " that is, if you ain't one of the 
tramps that won't work. Will you cut some wood for your 
dinner ? " " Of course I will," said the tramp gladly ; and he 
went to the wood pile. While he was at work the two spoilers of 
the Egyptians departed through the l)ack door, and went about 



APPENDIX. 249 

u hundred yards to the corner of a wood, where they laughed till 
they cried. The result of their manoeuvre was sure to be too good 
to be lost, so one of them climbed up a tree and watched. In 
about a quarter of an hour he saw a string of men and women 
coming towards the house, and still the working tramp made the 
chips fly. On entering the yard, one of the men Avent up to 
interview him, and, by the tramp's gestures, it was evident he was 
explaining that he had been set to work. Meanwhile the women 
went in, but came out again in a moment, shrieking with indigna- 
tion. The next sight was the farmer, armed with a stick, 
belabouring the astonished worker, who fled across the fence 
incontinently. He was followed to the very verge of the wood, 
and then the exhauste<I " mossback " left him to return to the 
house. " It was just the funniest thing I ever saw," declared nn- 
unabashed friend ; " and to see that poor fellow get whipped for 
our sins nearly killed me. But I tell you, we rewarded him for 
his labour after all. "We found him sitting on a stump, rubbing 
himself all over, and invited him to dinner with us. So, you see, 
he got the grub we promised him, and he didn't work for nothing ; 
for that would just kill a tramp." 



Note D.— RAILROAD WARS, p. 194. 

Everybody nowadays has some notion of the way the railroad 
business of America is carried on. They know that there are 
too many roads for the traffic, and that, to prevent a general ruin, 
the managers combine, pay the profits into the hands of a receiver, 
and receive again from him a certain agreed proportion of the 
whole sum. But this method of " pooling " the profits is some- 
times unsatisfactory. One line Avill think it gets too little if the 
fluctuations of trade send more freight over its rails than it 
formerly had, and will demand a greater proportion of the gross 
profits. This demand may be granted, but if not the agreement 
may break down, and the discontented railroad go to work on the 
old principle of every man for himself. This very likely 
inaugurates a war of tariffs ; fares and freights go down slowly or 
quickly according as the quarrel is open or secret, until one or 
other of the parties to the quarrel gives in to avoid complete 
ruin. 



2oO ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

AVliilc I was living in San Francisco, early in ISSCJ, tliorc was 
an open war between all the lines west of Chicago and Ivansas 
City, including the Union Pacific, the Northern Pacific, the 
Denver and Rio Grande, the Southern Pacific, and the Atchison, 
Topeka, and Santa Fe. Fares to New York and the Atlantic 
'icaboard came tund)ling down by ?10 at a fall. The usual rate 
to New York from San Francisco is 872. It fell to 60, to 50, 
•10, 30, to 25, to 22. All the railroad offices had great placards 
outside inviting everyone to go east at once, for they would never 
get such a chance again. Some of the notices were very odd. 
One began Avith " Blood, blood, blood I" and another had a hand 
holding a bowie knife, with the legend " Here we cut deep I" 
And, as I have said, they did cut deep, for at the end one might 
go to New York for about .SIS. Now this S18 went in a lump 
to the railroad east of Chicago. Consecpiently the passengers 
were carried over 2,000 miles for nothing. Frequently during 
two days men were booked to Chicago or Kansas City from San 
Francisco or Los Angeles for ?1. Two thousand miles for 4s. 2d. 

Such a state of things could not last, but while it did it gave 
rise to much speculation. Many men bought up tickets, good for 
some time, believing the bottom prices had been readied when the 
fall had by no means ended. It was odd to stand outside an 
othce aiul listen to the crowd. Some would hokl on and say, 
" I'll chance it till to morrow." Then I have seen an agent 
come outside and say, " Gentlemen, novv's your time to go east 
and visit your families. Don't delay. Of course fares may fall 
further, but I think not. Don't be too greedy. You are not 
likclv to get tlu! chance again of going home for twenty-live 
dollars." Tliev did fall further, but recovered again on the 
rumour of negotiations beginning between the competing lines. 
When that was contradicted they fell again. Suddenly, without 
anv waining, they jumped u^) to nornud rates, and left many of 
the outside public — the bears, so to speak — lamenting that they 
had not taken the opportunity so eloquc^ntly pointed out by the 
oratorical agents on the sidewalk by the offices. For the placards 
and pictures came down at once, and to an inquin'r who asked, 
"What can you do NeAV York at?" the answer was, " Why, sir, 
the usual rate, ^72." 

To an Englishman who has not travelled in the States and 
become familiar with the methods employed there by business 



APPENDIX. 2.31 

mon, it sc'oius odd that iiny one should chaffer with the clerk at a 
ticket office. What wotdd an English l)ooking clerk say if he 
Avere asked about the fare to some place, and, in replying; £1, 
received the rejoinder, " I'll give you 15*." ? He would think the 
man a joker of a very feel)le description. Yet this may often l;e 
clone in Western America. Even when there is no "war" on, 
the agents have a certain margin to veer and haul on in their 
commission, and will often knock off a little sooner than allow a 
rival line to get the passenger. Besides, it frequently happens 
that there m;iy be a secret cutting of rates without an open war. 
My own experience, when I came down from Sonoma Countv in 
the autumn of 188G, meaning to return to England, will give 
a very good notion of this, and of the way to get a cheap ticket 
when there is the troul)le among the companies which may end in 
a war, or be patched up by arbitration. 

It had been said in the papers for some time that rate cuttino- 
was going on in San Francisco, and this made me hurry down 
not io lose the opportunity. The morning after my arrival I 
walked into an office in Kearney Street, and said briefly, " What 
are you doing to New York ?" The clerk said in a business waA-, 
" Seventy-two dollars." I laughed a little, and looked at hilii 
straight without speaking. " Hum," said he ; " well you can o-q 
for sixty-five." " Thanks," I said : "it isn't enough." I walked 
out, and though he called me back I would not return. Then I 
went to Mr. P., a well-known agent for railroads and steamships. 
To use a vulgarism, he did not open his mouth so wide as the 
other, but at once offered me a through ticket to Liverpool for 
S72. I thanked him, and said I would call again. Deductino- 
the 812 for a steerage passage, his railroad fare was ,^00. So far 
I had knocked off .S12. And now it b(>gan to rain very hard. 
It did not cease all day. And my day's work was oidy befun, for 
it was only ten o'clock then. I went from one office" to another, 
(luoting one's rates here and another's there, and slowly I 
dropped the fare to fifty. I had to explain to some of these men 
that I Avas not a fool, and that I knew what I was doin"-; that if 
they took me for a " tenderfoot " or a " sucker " they were 
mistaken. My explanations alway.s had an effect, and down the 
fare tumbled. At last, about three o'clock, I had got thino-s to a 
very fine point, and was working two rival offices which stood side 
by side near the Palace Hotel. One man— Mr. A., whom I knew 



252 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

by name, who indeed knew a friend of mine — offered me $45. I 
.shook my head, and, going next door, Mr. V. gave me a dollar 
less. It took me half an hour to reduce that again to forty-three ; 
but at last Mr. A., who was as mueli interested in this little game 
as if I were a big stake at poker, went suddenly down to 341. I 
offered to toss him whether it should be §40 or 842. He accepted, 
and I won the toss. As he made out the ticket, he remarked, 
almost sadly, " We don't make anything out of this." But he 
cheered up, and added, " Well, the others don't either." So I 
got my ticket ; and it was over one of the l)est lines. By that 
day's work, though I got wet through, covered with mud, and 
very tired, I saved $32. 

When on board the east-bound train next day, I got talking 
with some dozen men who were going east with me, and, naturally 
enough, we asked each other what fares we had paid. I found 
they varied greatly, but the average was about 800. One little 
Jew, a tobacconist, was very proud that his only cost 348. He 
almost wept when I told him that I beat him by eight whole 
dollars. Moreover, I reached New York twenty hours before 
him, for when we parted at Chicago Ave made arrangements to 
meet in New York, and then I found that he had been obliged to 
go round into Canada, and lie over all one night, while I had 
come direct on the Chicago and Alton Avith only two hours' wait 
at Lima ; so on the whole I do not think I did very badh'. 



Note E.— AMERICAN SHIPMASTERS, p. 232. 

It may seem strange to people who are entirely unacquainted 
with the methods of shipmasters and officers generally in the 
American mei'cantile marine that a sailor should have such a 
deadly objection to sail in one of their vessels ; but those who 
know the hideous brutalities Avhich continually occur on such 
ships will quite understand the feelings of a man who finds 
himself on a vessel which would probably have been manned 
willingly if it had not a bad character among seamen. I have 
known an American vessel lie six weeks and more off Sandridge, 
Melbourne, waiting for a crew, which she could not get, although 
men were very plentiful and the boarding-houses full. There are 



APPENDIX. 253 

some vessels running from New York, &c. round the Horn to 
San Francisco which have a villainous reputation. The captain 
of one of these was sentenced to 18 months in the Penitentiary 
when I was in the great Paciiic port for incredible atrocities 
practised on his crew. For one thing, he shot repeatedly at men 
who were up aloft, and hit one of them who was on the main-yard, 
though not so seriously as to make him quit his hold of the jack- 
stay. One of the ship's boys was treated with barbarit}- during 
the whole passage ; thrashed, beaten, starved, and ill-used in the 
vilest manner; and at last the captain knocked him down and 
jumped on his face so as to blind him for life. This man went a 
little too far, and the courts which are always biassed, and very 
naturally biassed considering their origin, on the side of rich autho- 
rity, were compelled to do their duty by the uproar that this last 
incident caused. Yet even after that the people connected with 
the shipping interests got up petitions and intrigued and wire- 
pidled for months to get the Grovernor of California to pardon 
him. Failing in this, they approached the President ; but I am 
heartily glad their efforts were vain. 

One of my own shipmates on the Coloma, of Portland, Oregon, 
was once with a commander of this class, and so bad was his 
reputation that no one among the crew knew until they Avere 
under way who the captain was. My mate said, " I was at the 
wheel when I saw him come up the companion, and, as I had 
sailed with him before, my blood ran cold when I recognised him. 
He came straight up to the wheel, stared at me, and asked me, 
' Haven't you sailed with me befoi'e ? ' ' Yes, sir,' I answered. 
Then he grinned, ' Ha, then you know me. When you go 
forward you tell the men what kind of a captain I am, and tell 
them that if they behave themselves I'll be a father to 'em.' I 
knew what his being a father to us meant. However, I didn't see 
any good in scaring the fellows, so when my trick was over I told 
them the skipper was a real beauty. Just then there was a roar 
from the poop, ' Relieve the wheel ;' and the man who had relieved 
me came staggering forrard with his face smothered in blood. 
He had let her run off a quarter of a point or so, and the skipper, 
without saying a word, struck him right between the eyes with the 
end of his brass telescope, cutting his nose and forehead in great 
gashes. That was his way of being a father to us, and he kept it 
up all the passage. The first chance I got I skinned out ! " 



254 ADRIFT IN AMERICA. 

It is true that the Auiorican inereantile marine is not so bad as 
it was. These things do not occur in all vessels, but even yet 
they occur so fre(]uently that an English sailor would as a geni'ral 
rule rather sail with the devil himself than with an A-merieau 
skipper. "What the state of affairs was some 20 or .33 years 
ago one can hardly imagine, l)ut it certjiinly was much worse 
then. Shanghai-ing is not so much practised. There is a story 
current among seamen, tliough I know not how true it is, that it 
was checke<l owing to the lieutenant of an English man-of-war 
beino- drus:s;ed and carried on board an American merchantman. 
However, there is now, or Avas but lately, a boarding-house 
keeper in San Francisco, whose christian or first name had bc( n 
abolished in favour of " Shanghni." I had the very doubtful 
honour of knowing him, ami could easily l)elieve any stories told 
of his chicanery and treachery to sailormen. 



